A Fool To Be a Hero
by johnnylee619
Summary: When Stoick never left for the Nest, and when Hiccup's torment had gone so far that eventually, he snapped, and left Berk with Toothless. This adventure marks the duo as they fought against the world themselves, and to test the true nature of heroism in the time of greatest needs. Choices are to be made. Sides are to be chosen. Inspired and dedicated to "Hero of the Day" by xv323.
1. A Boy's Hope

_**AN: Bear with me, people, this story will become better over time as the story progresses.**_

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

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**:: :: Chapter 1: A Boy's Hope :: ::**

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This is Berk, but let's just sum this place up and get to the good parts. Berk is a small village up north around the Barbaric Archipelago that is home to the Vikings, but also the hunting ground for the dragons.

Yes, there are dragons.

They come once around every month or two to raid, steal, kill, etc. Normally people would get their ass out of this god-forsaken place, but hey, this is the Vikings we're talking about; they have...stubborn issues. It is a civilization that always depend on strength, bravery, skills, and _violence, _which was why the war between the human race and dragon race had been going on for _three hundred_ _years_.

Now, let's get back to the topic. Here on the quiet night of Berk became an angry war cry on both sides. The Vikings, getting ready their warriors, catapults, and all weapons. The Dragons, getting ready their comrades for battle by starting out in a V-formation, with the Gronckles on two edges - shielding their brothers in arms - with the Hideous Zipplebacks on the next line - ready for heavy aerial attack - with the Deadly Nadders on second place - ready to strike at anything that comes in harms way - with the Monstrous Nightmare on the front line - leading his colleagues to victory - and last but not least, the _Night Fury_. This species is known as the offspring of lighting and death itself; it never steals, it never show itself, and most of all-

_BOOOOOOOOM!_

"LOOK OUT!"

_CRASH!_

-it never misses...

It barely joins the fight since all it cares about is protecting its comrades, which was why it let the Nightmare take the lead. But there are more than meets the eye to its side of the story.

Killing this prized dragon can lead the victor going down in history, it will bring a great honor to his or her families for the next generation to come and forever. Which is why today, and tonight, _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third_ is going to be the one to bring down this magnificent beast.

Yeah, great name, right?

As soon as the battle begins, as soon as the dragons reach it's mid-point, every one of them split up and steal as much food as the Vikings shoot, swing, capture, and kill as much of them as possible.

Hiccup felt like today was his lucky day. Many attempts had been made by this fifteen year old boy, but failed miserably.

As he left his house to join the fight, many gave him an angry glare, "What are you doing out here, boy?!" one yelled.

"Get back inside!" a female shouted, "Are you trying to get yourself killed _again_?!" and the list goes-

"Ahhhhhh! _Morning!_" screamed the third man as he accidentally tackled Hiccup. Well, not _all_ are angry at him...

So now you're wondering why were the people giving him hating voices and hurtful enquires? Well, for starters, due to his many failed attempts on capturing the Night Fury, it had cost great damage to the village, as if he was actually _helping_ the dragons to raid. The second was that Hiccup _isn't_ like the other Vikings. He doesn't have the strength, the bravery, and the violence in him; what he does have are skills. Not like fighting or any types of physical involvement, but mainly his brain. He reads, he writes, he draws, he plans, and he invented numerous gadget. It goes to shows, he's _smarter_ than them. He wasn't bulk or tall as the rest, he was weak and short as a fish bone (which became his nickname).

Why do you think he was named "Hiccup" in the first place? Because it is the definition of a _runt_.

As simple as you can say it, he's just _different_.

Running as fast as his skinny legs can carry him, he started cumulating his plan. First, he'll have to go to the Blacksmith shop to get his automatic bola-launcher, a dragon-catching machine he had made. He's the apprentice to his mentor, so it should give him full access to the place. Second, without getting suspicions from anyone (since he had caused _way_ too much trouble in his life), he'll have to sneak quietly and quickly to a secluded area, so he can finally take down the beast and become the hero he'd always wanted to be.

No more _hatred_ from others, no more _teasing_ from others, no more _pain_, no more_humiliation_. All of that will soon be replace by appreciation, kindness, glory, respect, heroism, but most importantly..._peace_.

His life wasn't easy, but to explain it would take too long and too far, so the best way to say how it is, is that his life was _HEL_.

But now, there's a chance of redemption.

Hiccup's mind was so full in the thoughts of glory, his heart was so full of happiness, and his soul was so full of hope, everything went by so fast that somehow, he finds himself being chased by a Monstrous Nightmare screaming for dear life!

How did _that_ happened?!

Well, first he makes it to his destination (setting his automatic bola-launcher by a near cliff), second was he stood patiently with his weapon aiming at the sky, third was a huge explosion by the catepults tower (these Vikings have a lot of catapults!), and fourth was him firing at the dark figure at the dark sky as it scream in horror of falling down. He did it, he thought. And with that joy of finally succeeding, he also found himself at the grip of the village chief's - Stoick the Vast - beefy left arm, and lying next to him, was the unconscious Nightmare previously chasing him. Looking ahead of himself, he can see all the destruction the dragon had cause for chasing him, which earned him a scowl from the rest of the villagers.

And there's one more thing you need to know about Stoick:

"Sorry..._dad_." Hiccup mumble.

And his feelings of salvation disappeared.

:: ::

_In the morning_...

"The gods hate me," Hiccup groaned. "Some people lose their knife or their mug. But no, not me, I manage to lose an entire dragon?!" He punched out at a low-hanging branch, but it snapped directly back into face, "OW!" he yelled.

After the disappointed conversation from his father, Hiccup tried to explain to him that - _this time_ - he'd finally shot down a Night Fury, but as always...he wouldn't listen.

You can't blame the big guy though, Hiccup would always yell around saying that he shot down the mighty beast, but the search party always came back with nothing. It goes so far that no one bothered to listen to the boy anymore. Sometimes, when he mentioned anything about Night Fury, people would either yelled at him, getting a punch to the abdomen by his universal-ego cousin, Snotlout, or would laugh and simply ignore him. All of that consequence had happened to him during that night in one go, but this time, this time for sure he had hit one. Which was why he'd journeyed himself down to Raven's Point, where he can see clearly in the dark that night where the Night Fury had crash.

So far on his search: _**Nothing!**_

A bummer for him, and once he was about to give up and turn back, that particular branch that had struck him in the face seems to be in a very, _very_ odd angle.

The whole tree was struck and torn down by some unknown forces, and following the position on where the tree was now lying down, the torn and crack dirt on the ground follows the path.

Almost as if something had _crashed_ here.

Hiccup followed it. As he reached the end...his heart stopped.

What he is seeing now was the unstoppable, majestic, as dark as midnight, as deadlier as death itself, killing-machine known only as-

"_Night Fury..._" Yep, the legendary dragon, but you probably already figured that out.

Lowering himself for precaution, he stared at the prize dragon, laying sideways on its right, that seems to be knocked unconscious, and tied up by his bola. Its life is now in Hiccup's hand.

He picked up his dagger (since it's the best weapon he can carry right now) and walked slowly towards the creature.

"Oh, wow. I-I did it. This-this fixes everything, yes!" he pumped his fist in the air, resting his right foot on top of the Fury. "I have brought down this mighty beast!-"

"_ROOAARRRR_!" The dragon stirred suddenly, which causes Hiccup - in fear - to fall back against the large, gray, cold stone wall...and almost _peeing_ himself.

Picking himself back up, Hiccup pointed his knife at the dragon and slowly walked back to the spot where he was standing. Thinking that now it was safe, he looked into one the dragon's eye and viciously whispered, "I'm gonna kill you, dragon." He held the dagger up, "I am gonna cut out your heart out and take it to my father. I am a Viking." He closed his eyes and got ready for the blow, thinking with the same thought from last night of how all of this was going to end: _No more __hatred_ from others, no more _teasing_ from others, no more _pain_, no more_humiliation_. All of that will soon be replace by appreciation, kindness, glory, respect, heroism, but most importantly...peace.

But something in the being's eyes caught his conscious. He looked back down.

The dragon's eyes were still open, just staring.

"I am a _VIKING_!" he yelled, desperate to get the message through the dragon's head and ignore its stare.

But its eyes; something in them that he just couldn't shake it away.

Was it emotions he saw? Was it fear? Was it pain? But that couldn't be, right? Dragons don't have feelings, or possess any human likeness, they are monsters, the Devil's minions, he thought.

He opened his eyes once more and saw that the dragon closes his own, making a mourning sound, rest in defeats, prepared for death...

As if he wanted it.

As if it's just how the boy had wished it upon himself before too.

He couldn't do it. No one matter how hard he tried to put in doubts, he knew he couldn't do it. He _won't_!

_This-this was wrong!_

Sighing and lowering his dagger he whispered, "I did this," as a way of describing his shame washing over him. He turned to leave, but stopped at his track.

He couldn't just leave this animal tangled up, stuck all alone in these woods. In fact, the chances of anyone in this village knowing this location except himself were very, very slim.

This creature would _starve_ to death...

Starving was the worst way to die than getting stab. He knows it, because he's _been_ through it. A few years ago, he was trapped in a snow storm in the middle of a cave - well known as a playground for children - through an avalanche for days. Once the search party had finally found him, he was much skinnier than he was before, and he was very much in pain; he just wanted to die and put himself out of his misery. In addition, Tuffnut - who, like Snotlout, loves to tease Hiccup - came over to him one day of his recovery and just said that they could have founded him many days earlier...if they had remembered him.

They _had_ forgotten him, how cruel was that?

So, in the end, it left him with only one choice...

_SNAP!_

That was the sound of a rope being cut off one by one as Hiccup tries freeing the dragon. Not only was he surprised himself, but also the Night Fury. This type of action was unknown to dragon history; _a boy sparing a dragon's life_.

Suddenly, the last rope snapped and the Night Fury charged at the boy, pinning him on the ground, just for precaution. You got to admit, the boy did spare him. So, staring at the small, green, acidic eyes for a few second, on what seems like an hour, he came to decision to let the boy live.

He roared at his face.

He crawled away in lighting speed.

He jumped and flew away (although he kept crashing into obstacles).

The boy stood back up in shock. This type of action was unknown to human history; _a dragon sparing a human's life_.

He walked away slowly as multiple thoughts shot through his mind, '_I just threw the only chance of acceptance, I just threw the only chance of love from my father, I just threw EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED FOR AWAY!_' and with that last thought, and from many trauma and shock in such a sort moment, he passed out, not too sure if he would come to regret this decision. Funny, there's actually a huge difference between you wanting something, than you _thinking_ you want something.

'_I feel like a fool..._' was his last thought as he slowly faded into darkness.

However, unknowingly, in the deep end of the back his mind...

It gave this young man a little piece of _hope_.

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**_AN: Alright, you know the drill; review please!_**


	2. His True Friend, But His Only Friend

_**AN: Well folks, here's chapter 2! Keep up the review.**_

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

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** :: :: Chapter 2: His True Friend, But His Only Friend :: ::**

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It was weird, like..._really_ weird, Hiccup had thought. A week had past now and everything to his knowledge had been turned upside down. It flew by so fast, like _Toothless_.

But let's rewind a bit so everything make sense...

:: ::

_Seven days earlier..._

_(After encountering the Night Fury)_

As Hiccup finally made his way back home (the only house on the highest hill with the best view of the village), he had been thinking about his decision. Not the one about the dragon, that had already been dealt with; he'll probably come to regret it later somehow, but the decision he was thinking about was the thought of trying to _never_ kill a dragon for the rest of his life. After what he saw...changes _everything_. The only thing left is to tell his father. Oh Gods! His _father_! The chance of him approving Hiccup's choice - or at least _trying_ to listen to his reason - are one in a thousand.

But, he'll have to give it his best shot, like he always does.

Once inside, he saw his father tending the fire in the fire place at the living room. The thought of telling his dad just dropped out of his head in an instead. He - stealthily - paced his way to the upstairs, but that plan backfired with his father calling his name, knowing he's there, "Hiccup."

He stopped and gulped, "Dad! I, uh...I have to talk to you."

"I need to speak with you, too, son," he said, turning to face him.

With a deep breath from both sides, they spoke simultaneously;

"I decided I don't want to fight dragons." Hiccup, first.

"I think it's time you learned to fight dragons," Stoick, second.

"What?" Again, both asked simultaneously.

"You go first," Father said.

"No, no, you go first."

"Alright." Stoick, clasping his hands together nervously, "You get your wish. _Dragon training_. You start in the morning."

Wow, maybe he should have gone first, "Oh, man, I should've gone first. Because, I was thinking, you know, we have a surplus of dragon fighting Vikings...but do we have enough...bread making Vikings, or small-home repair Vikings, or-"

"You'll need this," Stoick interrupted Hiccup and dropped the hilt of an axe at both of his hands. The weight of the double bladed ax causes him to shift backwards a little.

"I don't want to fight dragons," Hiccup said it again.

"Hahaha! Oh, come on. Yes, you do!"

"Rephrase, Dad, I _can't_ kill dragons!" Now it became a protested.

"But you _will_ kill dragons!" Stoick responded.

"No, I'm really very extra sure that I won't," he said.

"It's time, Hiccup," Stoick's voice now became hard and serious.

"Can you not hear me?!"

"This is serious, son! When you carry this axe," he said, gesturing to the weapon in Hiccup's arms, "you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, you think like us. No more of..._this_." He motioned his hand over the entire body of Hiccup.

"You just gestured to _all_ of me!" Hiccup said.

"Deal?" Stoick asked.

"This conversation is feeling very one sided."

"Deal?!" Stoick asked once again, this time more of a command instead of a choice for Hiccup.

With a sigh, he said, "_Deal_..."

Stoick put on his helmet, "Good. Train hard. I'll be back. I'm heading off to help Bucket and Mulch. Bucket forgot to close the gate so now all the sheep are scattering, running around the island." He walked out of the hut, not long for him not to hear Hiccup's last word;

"And I'll be here..._maybe_."

So, in his previous question, the answer is pretty obvious:

No

:: ::

_The next day..._

_(The Dragon Arena)_

"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber said excitedly, opening the gate and introducing the new recruits like this place was new, even if they had been here before...watching other Vikings slaughter the captive dragons.

Gobber is Hiccup's father's best friend, so he's practically an uncle. Not only that, but he's also Hiccup's mentor, as Hiccup is his apprentice in the work of Blacksmith. Hiccup loves crafting and inventing, but most people don't give a damn to this boy's special, creative talent.

_Most..._

Gobber, had always treated Hiccup differently than the others. In fact, he's the only one _close_ enough to make this boy feel better about himself, but most of all, he's been more of a _father_ to him than Stoick would ever be.

To make this side of the story short, the new recruits were - unfortunately - Hiccup's peers, who - most - was also his tormentors.

There was Snotlout Jorgenson, Hiccup's pain-in-the-ass-with-heavy-ego cousin, who had been a favorite from Hiccup's father, Stoick, like a son he _never_ had.

It wasn't that hard for Hiccup to notice his favor on Snotlout.

Snotlout was the average Viking you would hope to be if you wanted to survive in today's world. He was all muscle and bravery with a full hatred of dragons, but that last statement would have been true if he would - for once in his life - so keeping, looking and admiring himself in his own reflection from water, steel, mirr- okay, anything that involves reflecting himself upon on.

Next, there was the twins, Tuffnut (the boy) and Ruffnut (the girl) Thorston. They are pretty much devious when it comes to destruction; they aren't the brightest - actually, they might be dumber than Bucket - but when it comes to chaos and mischief, they get creative.

Fourthly introduced is Fishlegs Ingerman, a non-stop-talker who keeps talking about the status of every single dragons he knows-

And _only_ the ones he knows of...

Every single day.

He would just be like Hiccup, if he wasn't big, chubby, strong, and most of all, ability to carry weapons and shields. Because of that, it's what made him a member of the group. With him always going along with the crowd and _fear_ of being like Hiccup, he would keep his mouth shut most of the time so he can _stay_ in the group. He's just that desperate, but does that mae him lucky in Hiccup's view?

Maybe...

Maybe not...

Maybe _both_...

There are a total of five in the groups, so the fifth member would be last, but not least...

Astrid Hofferson.

A fierce warrior she is, and a female one too! Usually, women these days would mostly be a house wife - married to Odin who knows who - bear children, and feed them. But Astrid is what they called a _shield-maiden_, and she intends to keep it that way; don't want to be involved with any girly things, or anything around the weak ones, which is why she ignores Hiccup constantly, believing he's "bad luck" to her training.

Unfortunately, Hiccup is full in_ love_ with this girl! So the chances of him and her being together are one in a thousand, meaning no chances at all, but that doesn't bring him down. Like trying to kill dragons, he would always try to win her heart, which also fails.

Now, all of them stood in one place, a place where their path to their future lies here. However, one will be more different than the rest.

Again, to make this short, Gobber gave a short speech about dragon- _blah, blah, blah, blah_. Next thing you know, he releases the Gronckle, saying that he, "...Believed in learning on the job," after Snoutlout had protested on releasing a dragon way too early on the first start of their training, but come on, this is _Gobber_; the most funniest and humorous man in the Hooligan Tribes. The Gronckle at first had no idea what to do, until it saw Astrid's axe in the air, a sign of attack. That's when the game was on.

First out by losing their shield, was Ruffnut and Tuffnut, for fighting over which one gets the shield with better design on them. Second was Fishlegs, for he was distracted through pride and admiration for getting the correct answer on one of Gobber's question. Third was Snoutlout, for he was distracted by trying to get Astrid to come over to his place to work out.

_'Puff__, more like a date!_' Hiccup thought, overhearing Snoutlout's invite.

The last one was Hiccup (which is surprising for everyone), who stood next to Astrid nervously, not knowing what to do, "So, I guess it's just you and me, huh?"

"Nope, just you," Astrid replied. She took a barrel-roll as the fourth shot from the Gronckle hit impact on Hiccup's shield. Desperate to get it back, he chased after it with the dragon on his tail. Once he realized what's happening, he found himself cornered by the dragon, pulling it's last breath of fire; before it could do it though, Gobber had came in, in the nick of time to yanked the overgrown sausage back to it's cage.

When that was done, he gave one last advice to his students to end today's session, "Remember, dragon's don't show mercy. They kill on first sight and so must we. They would always..._always_, go for the killed." And with that, Hiccup gained more questions than the answers he was hoping for.

:: ::

_Three days later_...

This half of the week was no picnic. Hiccup's father was more disappointed in him for starting to fail dragon training, but the most that clutches through his brain was Astrid.

It was basically the day after the first day of class. The lesson: Fight _and_ flight. The arena was rearrange into a wall of maze and the Deadly Nadder was release; the students must find it's blind spot if they were to be in it's present, while the rest must run and hide, preparing themselves for any possible sneak attack. After fifteen minutes of shoving and tricking Hiccup to walk right in front of the Nadder (don't ask how, it's complicated), he eventually started to hide for the rest of the session. In the end, Astrid found herself being chased by the dragon. Desperate, she quickly climbed and hopped from wall to wall as the Nadder kept following her - crashing and pushing the walls down with it. Finally, losing places to jump from, she fell and landed on Hiccup.

'_Oh no...why him?!_' she thought angrily.

She tried to get up, but her double-bladed axe had gotten lodged deep into Hiccup's shield. She pulled hard as Hiccup ridiculously talked and asked her in _politeness_ to help her.

"Ooooh, love on the battlefield," Tuffnut crooned teasingly.

"She could do better," Ruffnut judge.

Hiccup didn't pay attention to that, for Astrid kept pushing and kicking his face to get back her axe. Astrid on the other hand, heard it. This was an instant range for her. There was no way is she going to be noticed with a _weakling_, and with that, it gave her enough strength to free her axe - although still lodge into Hiccup's shield - just in time before the Deadly Nadder would have crushed them.

_BAM!_

The sound of splinters flies everywhere and droping to the ground. The Nadder whimpered in pain from the impact and made it's way back to it's cage. No one but Hiccup noticed it. It was strange in his heart, he almost felt sorry for the poor being. But that thought quickly zoomed out of the way with Astrid's shouting, "Is this some kind of a joke to you?!" Hiccup always wanted Astrid to talk to him, but _this_ side of her is something that he would always wanted to avoid, "Our parents' war is about to become ours," Astrid snapped, pointing the tip of her axe right at his nose, "Figure out which side you're on."

She walked away, leaving the rest to call him a "loser" or other names as they followed Astrid. Fishlegs though, kept his mouth shut. Like Astrid, he never really seems to bother or bully Hiccup; he just tags along with the others. To Hiccup, he was either sadden, jealous, or angry at the chubby boy's _pathetic_ action to try not to help him. But that thought must be put aside for he kept thinking about Astrid's question, '_Figure out which side you're on._' It went throughout his mind for the remainder of the day.

There was only one way to answer that question.

He quickly walked out of his house and into the woods unnoticeably for his father had gone for the day on another Chieften duties. He carried a cod and a shield with him just in case...

You already figured it out, didn't you?

Well, it was a stupid thing for Hiccup to dare to do, but it was worth a shot, for a he was a man who has much to lose, but _not_ much to live for.

Hiccup had finally made it to the cove, which he had saw the Night Fury for the second time, three days ago after the Gronckle incidents from their first training session. He had no idea if it was still alive, because the second time he saw the dragon, it's left tail was missing...

It couldn't fly away.

Hiccup was more excited than scared that he soon found himself standing in front of the legendary dragon, for he had come to _like_ him and _trust_ him for accepting his offer (the cod) for peace. The Night Fury did the same thing...only more _disgusting_. He chocked out the remaing fish and - through body language - suggested Hiccup to take _his_ offering, by doing what _he_ did.

Yeah, _pretty_ disgusting.

Fun fact about this Night Fury, is that it has _retractable_ teeth.

Things went furthur as the two spent more time in the cove together throughout the rest of the afternoon till evening. The dragon seems to be mimicking the boy's every action; starting from copying the smile the boy made after he had eaten the half rotten fish, to the point where the dragon started to doddle around the dirt when the boy made a portrait of him on it.

Not the best; it was all squiggly lines, but hey, if a _dragon_ can do something like that...

It's extraordinary.

Hiccup had tried to pet the dragon, showing any signs of peace and meaning no harm but a friend, but the Night Fury kept pushing him away. Eventually, after walking around and examining the dragon's creative art, he found himself standing in front of the reptile not long as a foot. One last time he'll try, one last time he'll prove that everything they knew was wrong; about the dragons and _humans_ together, how they all misunderstood one another. He held up his right hand - the Night Fury drew back - he closed his eyes and lowered his head - the Night Fury seemed unsure - the boy pushed forward gently - the Night Fury leaned in close...

His hands was warm on the touch of the smooth, hard, but soft scales. For a moment it was frightening, but suddenly, a small speak of light flashes in between their minds. A warm feeling swarmed around the boy's heart, a sign of calm and grace that came before him as he looked up to see the devil they all knew...to be nothing but an innocent being, fighting for survival for not only himself, but for his own kind.

A bond was formed...

A friendship was made...

A side has been chosen...

They both drew back and stared at each other for the longest time, until the dragon decided to crawl back to his sleeping spot, leaving the astonished boy staring at him, making a slight smile on his face. Not the sarcastic-smile he usually made, nor the lying-to-yourself-that-everything-is-all-right face.

This was the smile of true happiness that he had never felt since his mother's death.

And he walked away.

:: ::

_Two days later..._

Since that day at the cove, Hiccup felt like he needed to do something more than just feeding the big _guy_.

No longer has he come to think of the Night Fury as an "it".

It was night time at the north of the village square, as the trainee settled down on the high-wooden beam far forward from the cliff for support. At first the teens were satisfied by their location, but when Hiccup showed up, the mourning began. Luckily, he was too busy thinking about Toothless (the name sort of got stuck the minute he mentioned "toothless" to the dragon about his retractable teeth), so he just sat and ate without a single word just how everybody _likes_ it.

Gobber kept yapping about how he had lost his left hand and right leg from the "blood-thirsty dragons", he had said, which just sickens Hiccup. The dragons were just _defending_ themselves. Hel, Gobber probably attacked _first_. As he continued his story - which he sometimes exaggerated - his one last statement caught Hiccup's glimpse, "It's the wings and the _tails_ you really want. If it _can't_ fly, it _can't_ get away! A _downed_ dragon, is a _dead_ dragon."

'_Toothless..._' The thought of Toothless being dead caught his breath, but it also hatched a brilliant idea. Gobber decided to take in for the night, leaving the trainee for their own personal conversation. Hiccup knew he didn't belong here, so why bother to tell them that he's leaving? They'll just cheer anyway.

He quickly got up from his seat and took the stairs down, making his destination to the fort. Astrid was the only one noticing him leaving; she got up and watched over him, curious on what and where is he going and doing, but until he was invisible, she stepped back.

Because of Gobber's absence, Hiccup had all the blacksmith shop to himself. His father wouldn't notice him gone. Stoick had always fallen to his bed the moment he got home; too tired from work. So, this leaves Hiccup plenty of time to work on his project.

Operation: "Test Flight", is on the go!

_A day forward..._

As the outside world grew worse, Hiccup's secret life began to process in a significant way. At first, he had finally finished the prosthetic tailfin for Toothless' missing left tail from the forge. He did some calculations, and it seems that in order for the dragon to fly again, he would need some sort of control.

'_A leg paddle maybe?_' he thought.

This mean Toothless can't always fly on his own, for Hiccup, himself, can't stay on the back of the Night Fury forever, but it'll have to do.

It's better to have _little_ than _none_ at all, right?

Once that stage was down, it was time to add on a saddle to Toothless' back, but the over-grown-stubborn lizard made it a hefty challenge. In the long run (literally) he finally got the big guy to settle down and strap on the saddle, "See, it wasn't that bad, right bud?" he asked, and got a quick-happily _ruff_ growl in return.

Sometimes, Toothless can act like a puppy dog, having his eyes big, round, and adorable pupils instead of a silts, snake-like eyes, in a dangerous defensive-killer mode.

From time to time, they kept practicing to get in the air again; making some few notes on the paddle position on which is the right set to adjust the prosthetic tail, while being missing from the village for the entire day, but none would care. Hiccup would have thought of that sometimes, and when it was too much from his other painful memories, he would take a break and cry by the lake in the cove. Only Toothless was there to comfort the boy, showing him love of a friendship more than anyone in Berk could ever have done; accepted him for who he is and what he is, more than anyone else would have counted for.

In a matter of days, they grew from friends to best friends...and then to brothers.

Toothless was the best thing that ever happened to Hiccup, which is why he can't let the village know of his actions. They'll have to stay completely incognito.

Toothless would _die_ if his cover was blown...

Hiccup would sometimes talk about his people to the reptile - his father, his peers, Gobber, and Astrid - of how they mistreated him, didn't understand him, avoided him, taunting him, hating him, blaming him, humiliating him...

The list goes on.

Toothless would growl in anger when Hiccup talks about them, wondering why in the name of all that is holy would they treat this sweet, kind, loving, innocent, and remarkable boy like this! Either they are just _monsters_, or they are just _pure evil.__  
_

But that didn't stop them from finishing what they started, so throughout the day, they practiced - they crashed a lot - but they kept practicing, until at the very end of the afternoon, at the very beginning of the evening, they did it. Not _actually_ flying, it's more of finishing the setting of the mechanic and the design of whole prosthetic tailfin, but they did it._  
_

_Tomorrow_, is when they will start; _tomorrow_, is when they'll be ready.

:: ::

_Present..._

_(Afternoon: An hour earlier)_

Still stuck at dragon training, more taunting was made, but Hiccup tried to hold it all in.

Today was the day where he and Toothless will finally be in the air. He began a play back to everything that has happened; in three-hundreds years, not only was he the first Viking who _wouldn't_ - he realized that now - kill a dragon, but also the first one to _ride_ one. Well, not yet anyway, he's not too sure if everything would go smoothly. This is, after all, just a test flight.

Now, at the cove, stood the man and the beast, solving a situation that require more than just trust, but a bond of friendship that's as tight and hard as steel. Both cooperative and both looking out for each others backs, as two sides choose their own to cross uncharted territory, into the heart of their own enemies.

It was time to make history.

Toothless growled in readiness, to take flight along with his now-official _rider_. Hiccup, setting his foot onto the paddle controller, "Alright, bud, let's do this!" he shouted, and the Night Fury launched into the air in pure enjoyment, happy to be in the air once again without actually being tied to a leash, to keep him on the ground, but while also in mid-air during practice.

For two days, it seemed like a week for Hiccup. He never stopped working, he never rested; he stayed by the dragon's side all day, feeding him, and carrying him just like he did to him.

It felt so long...because he never wanted it to end.

Flying high in the sky, the two duo slowed their speed to test the prosthetic tail, "Okay, let's see what you've got," Hiccup said. Looking over the cheat-sheet he'd made for himself to know the best position that comes with the type of flying, he read and pulled his paddle into position four; smooth gliding.

In the start, it was frightening, fustrating, and heart-stopping. In fact, things got worse when Hiccup accidentally crashed Toothless on the lower left pillar; Toothless used his large ear to smack Hiccup in the face for being careless, but they were lucky to still be alive, right?

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!" said Hiccup apologetically in annoyance. Changing his position to number three to gain high altitude, the Night Fury flew up higher than the mountain. Hiccup couldn't feel his face in the cold air, the breeze flowing through his body, his mind cleared of trouble.

The feeling was indescribable; it was more than just the rush of the wind. It-It was...

_True freedom_...

"Yeah! Go baby! Oh, this is amazing!-" he shouted in the pure enjoyment of sunshine. Never had he been so free from his own prison, to be up in the sky to do the impossible. It was the greatest event that would be remembered from days to come. For a moment, Hiccup felt like he can touch the kingdom of Valhalla through the atmosphere.

That is, _until_...

_Click_

Hiccup's heart skipped a beat.

The cheat-sheet - being his main source on how to control the tail - detach from the clip he had attached to the front of the saddle, which resulted in a loud cry from him, "Cheat sheet!- Stooppp!" He tried to grab it, but somehow, Toothless slowing down from his altitude, he found himself also detach from the saddle.

His heart skipped _another_ beat.

Toothless saw him floating in front of him; eyes widen in fear, the two began to scream as they plummeting down to Earth.

"Oh, gosh, oh, gods no!" Unknowingly to Hiccup, that's the exact same line Toothless is using too, but in dragon-tongue.

As the two began falling, Hiccup's life flashed before his eyes. But they weren't his _life_...they were his _nightmares_. The pain and suffering throughout his life he went through, the support that no one thinks he deserves. If he can look at himself in a reflection, he'll know of how little there is between him and Toothless; the only good memory he has.

'_Uh-ah...not now, not today,_' he thought.

In a flash of lighting, Hiccup quickly grabed the harness in between him and the saddle, set back on his seat, connected them, and pulled.

Toothless opened his wings and positioned himself as they fell and glided downward on a perfect curve by the mountain line treetops. The force and wave of the wind it had unleashed by the amount of the dragon's acceleration had cause a tremendous push onto many trees, causing them to fall forward to where the wind had pushed. In fact, if a person were to be on that path, his or her ears would be deaf from the sound of the sonic burst of speed.

While gliding down, they were getting closer to numerous labyrinths of rock arches sticking up under multiple pillars. There was no time to fly up, and there was no time to look over the cheat-sheet - even if he could, it would be blurry due to their intense speed. So, as a leap of faith, he threw the sheet away, adjusted the paddle...

And began flying.

No sheet, no help..._just him and Toothless._

The sensation was weird; somehow he was following not only his own instinct, but Toothless' as well. Almost as if they were reading each other's _thoughts_, trusting each other's _minds_. A bond so strong, it morphed them into one.

As the two dodged the upcoming arches, Hiccup felt no fear, like he was _born_ to do this.

And when the moment was over, they made it out into the clear vast ocean. Breathing in and out fast as Hiccup realized what he just did; what the _both_ of them had did. Couldn't hold it in anymore, Hiccup let out the biggest, victory war cry that any Vikings could ever produce, "YEAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Cheering the same joy Hiccup has, Toothless shot out a plasma bolt in victory as well, only one thing he had forgotten...

Humans aren't fireproof.

"Aw, come on..." Hiccup wined, as the plasma bolt reached it's limited distance and began to explode in a _fire of vortex_; they flew right _through_ it, and he almost lost his eyebrows.

But you know what, he was having a blast!

:: ::

_Present..._

_(Now)_

The duo decided to set up a small camp fire for evening's meal on a small, uncharted island. The sun was close to setting, which is why they can tell it's the beginning of evening. It was a clear orange sky that felt like the season could be summer here, unfortunately it's still freezing enough to lose a finger.

Hiccup began to replay the events that led up to this point; it was amazing. As they kept eating, he finally spoke, "Hey...uh, Toothless?" The Night Fury poked his head up, "I didn't say it before, but..." He took a deep breath and let it all out, "You are just the _greatest_ thing that has ever happened to me. You've shown me how wrong _both_ of our sides are, and that each of our kinds had _misunderstood_ each other - you opened my eyes. You've showed me _love_ more than my own _father_ - or _Gobber_ - can ever give. You woke me up from a lost-hope of sleep I thought I was sleeping in. You are the _best_! _I love you_, bud..." Hiccup finished by hugging the reptile by the warm neck, earning a purr in return.

Tears began to fall from Hiccup's face, for this was the feeling he had long missed since the death of his mother, Valhallarama.

Toothless is his true friend, but his only friend.


	3. On the Risen of Destiny

**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

* * *

**:: :: Chapter 3: On the Risen of Destiny :: ::**

* * *

_(Afternoon)_

Since the last event from yesterday, Hiccup kept thinking about how life will be like for him from now on. His father had been avoiding him from embarrassment due to his failure in dragon training, his classmates have been doing their usual torment, and Gobber basically just kept telling him to work it up or try his best.

That last advice has declared in Hiccup's mind that Gobber can no longer be of any help to him at any cost. All he is, is just a guy who smiles at him and being nice to him, that's all. Nothing. _Useless_.

While entering his home - although, the cove where Toothless is felt more like it, but this is _still_ where he lives - his father called him out, "Hiccup." It was straight forward, not like the one last week, it was more of a disappointed talk, "I heard the process you made from Gobber in training and..." He eyed Hiccup in the face, not ashamed of what he was about to say next, "...I'm _really_ disappointed in you."

_'NOOO, REALLY! Gee, I never thought of that!'_ Hiccup thought in sarcasm.

"Yeah...kinda figured it out already-" Hiccup said.

"Then why aren't you trying to be better!" his father interrupted him.

"Dad, I told you, I don't _want_ to kill nor hurt dragons, not anymore. I know myself now that I am not capable for this!"

"Hiccup, this is _life_, are you willing to be more of an outcast now or are you willing to be part of the _great_?!" The two were shouting now.

This is "_life"_? Part of the "_great"_? These two words sickened Hiccup to the core.

'_More like living in a lie or hel,_' he thought. "I still stand by my choice, dad," Hiccup declared one more time, crossing both his arms.

It was quiet for a few second before Stoick angered face had finally responded that will push Hiccup even closer to the edge of the cliff, "Then _your mother_ and I are ashamed to even call you our _son_..."

Hiccup stiffened a little, realizing what his father had just said. To use his own dead mother to show how disappointed his father is at him...Hiccup turned his back and walked quickly to the door to get out of his father's face, "Don't you walk out of that door from me, _boy_!" Stoick shouted. Hiccup felt like crying, but kept walking towards the door, "You walk out of that door now, then _don't you ever come back_!" and then he stopped, can't believing that his father - or even if he is - just said all those crucial words in one go.

But he did it anyway.

Hiccup walked out of that door and never looked back. He needed someone right now. Maybe Toothless? No, he can't just up and go like that, he knew his father well enough that this is just a temporary anger they both go through like always, but this one was the worse. He needed someone to sort things out between them, and he knew just the man; Gobber.

Gobber may not be a big help anymore, but when it's a fight between him and Stoick, he's the best to fix it.

Today in dragon training was to learn how to take down a Terrible Terror; tricky these guys are. They are small and vulnerable alone, but traveling in a pact - which is basically always - then you better run and hope they don't take "interest" in you. So walking down to the arena, Hiccup was hoping to see less danger around and more of Tuffnut somehow getting his nose bitten off from the Terror for underestimating it, but he got more than he bargain for. What he saw was a green gas covering up a quearter of the arena.

He dashed forward to it.

Maybe he was being a fool to think that maybe he could help or just out of curiosity to find out what was going on, but it just felt like instinct telling him to go there. Finally arrive, he saw no signs of Gobber, and all he saw were few empty buckets on the ground and some shouting from the teens.

"Gobber?!" Hiccup called, but got nothing.

One thing he knows, it was definitely a Hideous Zippleback. The green, flammable gas says it all...that, and also the two different roars and Fishlegs screaming, "AHHH! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO LET THE ZIPPLEBACK OUT, TUFF?!"

"Cause it's _fun_?!" Tuff responded. Fun? How is _this_ fun? Either Tuffnut is an idiot or he just a bigger freak than Hiccup. Maybe _both_?

Astrid came back outside, which she has an odd look on her face, like she's worried...or _scared_. Hiccup stood by the entrance keeping an eye out for any sight of Gobber, but he still got nothing. After that, his eyes turned to the green gas, consuming almost half of the arena now. He almost heard the others scream for help, while Astrid stood mindlessly, not knowing what to do. For a moment, a creep of smile started to form on Hiccup's face, thinking that they got what they deserved, but suddenly, his mind retreated to reality.

He didn't want to go down _that_ path, he knew that he'll stoop down to their level, and that makes him a _monster_, and that makes him _no better than they are_, but can he hold that much pain it in?

_Yes_...

He made his choice.

He dashed forward, passing Astrid in the progress, and jumped into the smoke. Astrid was bewildered by Hiccup's actions, and one by one, each of her friends emerged - or more like thrown or pushed - out of the flammable area. The last one that was still in there was Fishlegs, probably too big and heavy to be carried out, which is why the rest - waking up from their unconscious state due to consuming too much of the Zippleback's gas - watched as the fool-boy emerged heroically, dragging the unconscious chubby boy to a safe spot. Suddenly though, after Hiccup had placed Fishlegs down, the two headed dragon came from behind Hiccup, bringing their gas closer to him until...

They ignited their gas.

_BOOOOOM_!

Everyone took cover as Hiccup's body smacked face down on the floor. His clothes were badly burnt, but mostly his vest. There were few burn marks, but that didn't damage much. The only problem was his ears; all ringing from the explosion and bleeding from taking in so much sounds. Hiccup stared aimlessly, unable to hear the kids shouting for help, and slowly his eyes fade into darkness.

At least there was no light...

:: ::

_Back at the Haddock household_...

_(An hour later)_

Waking up from the unconscious sleep, Hiccup felt a little burn and aching pain as he sat straight up from his bed. He looked over his body to see his green tunic and brown fur vest was gone. All there is, is his skin expose.

Well, at least his _pants_ were still on..._  
_

Looking around, he realized that he's in _his_ bedroom, and here he thought that his father had kicked him out. He started to remember what had happened; the fight with his father, the arena, Gobber missing, the teens releasing the Hideous Zippleback, him saving them, and then the explosion.

Murmuring was heard from downstair. As he slowly got up, he put on his same spared tunic, walking out of the room, and started to listen at the conversation:

"Can't believe he did is..." it was Stoick.

"The idiot almost got our children killed!" it was Astrid's mother along with her dad.

"That boy of yours is out of control, brother!" it was Spitelout, father of Snotlout and an Uncle to Hiccup, which mean Snotlout is his cousin and Spitelout is Stoick's brother (hence what Spitelout had last said).

At first, Hiccup was confused on who were they talking and shouting about, but after what Spitelout had said, he was sure it was him, but what did he do?

"Astrid, you sure that's what happened?" Stoick asked.

'_Astrid's here?_' Hiccup thought, suprised to know that his crush was in his home.

"Like I said, Hiccup came and _distracted_ us when we tried to put back the Terrible Terror to it's cage, and the next thing you know, that nuisance _opened_ the cage of the Zippleback; _he_ nearly got _us_ all _killed_, mostly Fishlegs! _We_ had to drag the two of them out and put the dragon back to the cage _ourselves_. I'm guessing that idiot thought he can take it down himself." Hiccup was starting to roughly think about what was she doing. The others had been calling him names before behind his back, but in front of his _father_? He wondered what's in store for them, but to his biggest surprise...

"That _lunatic- _what the hel is _wrong_ with him?" Hiccup's breath was caught away at his father's respond. He was expecting Stoick to defend him, but to agree with the rest...?

That's just cold.

Suddenly, a realization hit Hiccup. Astrid's story on what had happened was completely _false_. It was _them_ who _released_ the Hideous Zippleback, it was _he_ who saved _them_ from danger, not the other way around! He was a hero, but they _framed_ him from their crime...probably too ashamed to be saved by a _hiccup_...

Rage, anger, sadness, any negative emotions all boiling in his body, '_Distracted you guys? I SAVED YOU GUYS! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!_' he screamed in his thoughts.

Unknowingly to Hiccup, the more he heard this lies, the more he stepe closer to the edge on the inside balcony, up to the point where he was in clear view to everyone as Astrid last said, "I say you need to get _rid_ of him; it'll be _better_ for every-" she stopped, as her eyes met Hiccup's. He stared at her with anger she has never seen before, along with everyone else's.

Hiccup's eyes was bloodshot red as tears drop from both sides. He stormed away into his room and locked it tight, as the rest was calling his name and going up the stairs.

'_If it's better for everyone, then fine, I'm leaving!_' he thought as he quickly put on his riding gear, his journal, his fishing gear, and a saddle bag for any necessary inventory. He wrote a small note for his leave as he quietly jump out of the back window.

He didn't hesitate.

He didn't regret.

He didn't look back.

He was finally going to be free...

:: ::

After a minute of knocking and calling Hiccup's name, Stoick decided to kicked the door down, and as they entered, no signs of life was found.

All there is, is an open window swinging open and closed.

Stoick read the note Hiccup had left. It was written quickly, based on it's mess, but well enough to make it out. There were only a few simple word:

'_Well, you got what you wished for._'

Astrid ran to looked out the window and saw a small figure running into the woods. She told everyone and they - with her - followed Hiccup.

It had been half an hour as they followed the trail Hiccup had left. He may be small and weak, but he sure was fast, probably faster than _Astrid_. They all thought this was a complete waste of time, but as they moved deeper into the forest, a stampede of winds pushes pass the search party, and they quickly unsheathe their swords and axes, for only a dragon can made that type of a wind rushed. Unfortunately, they found nothing in the sky, '_Whatever it was, it was faster than any dragon I've ever known,_' Astrid thought.

The search went on from afternoon till night, and they came up with nothing. Up to the point where they finally gave up. Stoick was upset, then angry, but then _happy_. No more Hiccup to cause troubles, ruining the hunt for preparation of the Freeze, or messing things up during a dragon raid. Everyone was happy about it as well, including Astrid and her friends. They were pretty down about it at first - mostly because of the lie they all made, framing Hiccup - but they quickly got it out of their system.

Hel, they had no idea why they tried to search for the boy in the first place.

Gobber though, was the only one who seemed to be upset about it. If only he had been at the arena and never went to take a leak, none of this would have happened. He was basically the only one to feel guilty because of Hiccup's running away, but when he saw how Stoick reacted...

It just scares the hel out of him.

:: ::

_During the afternoon_...

It was blazing hot. Not in a way of the temperature, but inside of Hiccup.

Carrying all of the necessary equipment for his long travel, the only thing left to do is get to Toothless undetectably. He can hear others calling his name, but there's really no point in going back, there's nothing _left_ in going back.

As he kept running, all the painful memories flown through his mind. Only Toothless and Hiccup's dead mother remains his only cherish...and that made him sprint faster than ever.

Once at the cove, he climbed his way down from the steep hill and called for Toothless. The dragon rushed by him, concern shown all over his face. Hiccup must've been sobbing loudly, 'cause the dragon kept nudging his snout over the boy's face; wiping his tears and worrying if he's alright.

There was no time to explain. The voice of the search party calling Hiccup's name started to become closer. Toothless growled, thinking that these bastards were the cause of Hiccup's misery.

"C-Come on, Toothless, w-we got to go...w-we're leaving," Hiccup's voice was chocking in agony, it was too much for him to bear. Toothless, understanding the boy's intention, let the boy climbed on his back, ready for takeoff.

Once they took off, the search party voices became clearer and lounder, realizing they were flying above them. Hiccup stop Toothless and turned around for a quick moment. On the far distance, Hiccup could make out the figures. One was Stoick, second was Astrid, third was Spitelout, and fourth was Astrid's parents. The whole group was there.

Suddenly, a _dark side_ and a cripple smile started to form around Hiccup's face, slowly. Looking in his direction, he saw how small and vulnerable these _ants_ were; with Toothless, he can take them _all_ down. Toothless growled angrily at the _peasants_ under him; he can take them all with one easy blast, but this was Hiccup's choice; whatever he chose, he'll support it.

For a while, the duo kept looking at their direction, seeing how confuse these little ants are, but after that, Hiccup sigh and paddle Toothless to fly towards the opposite direction. He wanted to _scream_ all the way through Valhalla for the stupidity of the choice he'd just made, but still...

He made his choice.

He chose his side.

These Vikings aren't worth the killing for, no matter how hateful he is towards them. They were _useless _to him.

On the bright side of things, at least he made one happy thought...

'_Free at last!_'

* * *

**_AN: I made this chapter short because it was way too emotional and dark. My best friend/beta reviewer actually became a little insane when I put in WAY too much detail on the first try. I had to shorten it up for the sake of everyone's sanity._**


	4. Fight the Darkness or be Consumed

_**AN: Thank you all for the review.**_

_**C.J. Young (6/24/2013): Wow, really strong, my best friend/reviewer had that same reaction...only worst. (:(**_

_**The Dragon God (6/24/2013): Gosh, I just love long review, so don't feel ashamed of that! I like your prediction, it could happen, but it's unlikely in this story.**_

_**medafan 53 (6/25/2013): Nice job on identifying that. ;)**_

_**Beta (6/28/2013): I have no clue on what name you think I had messed up. Tell me in the review.**_

_**And I would like to thank the rest. Now, let's begin...**_

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

* * *

**:: :: Chapter 4: Fight the Darkness...or be Consumed :: ::**

* * *

One week.

Yes, that's how long since Hiccup had left, and life on Berk at first became joyish with that, while in Hiccup's and Toothless' journey themselves...well, it didn't quite gone well at first. There was getting attacked by bears on the duo's camping ground, getting mugged by an army of seagulls after the two had caught enough fish in the middle of the sea, and pretty much having no shelter. But in the end, they got it through. Toothless had toasted the bears, the two had recaptured enough fish to last more than a month or so, while shelter were to be taken in a cave under a mountain they found by a small uncharted island. Therefore things seemed pretty fine for the dragon/rider, but as they got better, the Hooligans became worst.

Coincidently, after Hiccup had left, the dragon raiding had gotten more active. Stoick had decided that the other younger generation will start Dragon Training _immediately_. Usually, recruiters are to start when they're at the age of fifteen - Hiccup's and the teens' age - but now they tone it down to _ten_. It seems a little bit obscured to have at that young of an age to start a life of hel and violence, but Stoick needed as much help to fight off the dragons, which meant they're going to need to capture more of them for practice.

Hiccup had been busy. For a while, he had been making his own preparation for the big Freeze.

First was clothes: Since little - or _littler_ - Hiccup couldn't fit in with any buff-boy outfits, which meant he had to make his own one of a kind at the tailor shop. He was fortunate enough to have gotten a lesson from Sahara the Hot-Headed to make one, so he doesn't have to bother her every time that he needed more of the exact same size or she'll lose her temper (hence her title).

The clothes he needed was to be a thick fur sweater, along with a cowl attached to the neck for head support to keep it warm. Similarity goes for the pants, but the boots is perfectly fine. He's also going to need some tools in order to make one.

Second was weapons and huntings: To have food and to make clothes, you got to hunt animals for their properties, right? Well, being a professional blacksmith can come with some perks for the brunet. With his mighty mind and journal full of weapon designs, there's no telling of what he can build. Sadly, all he has was Toothless and natural materials in his surrounding to do the work, so where can he find the tools?

'_Ah crap...I can't believe this_' Hiccup had thought.

At first, Toothless could have just done the hunting, but that wouldn't be fair. He's out in the wild now, and with that, he's got to learn how to survive - not just himself, but with Toothless. He doesn't want to be protected, no, he wants to _cooperate_. "_An eye for an eye..._", as many warriors had once said before, so not only is Toothless protecting Hiccup, but _Hiccup_ is also protecting him. After all, the Night Fury can't fly without the brunet.

This leads to the final discussion in his own sub-conscious on how he could resolve his problems:

If he's going to make some weapons, he's going to need some reliable tools.

And if he's going to _get_ some reliable tools, he's going to need to get it from somewhere.

And that "somewhere"...is _Berk_.

Hiccup had never been to the outside world before - meaning the island - so he has no idea on the locations of other villages, just Berk. And Berk is the only place he knew that have the resources for his survival on the Freeze.

A terrible irony, huh?

Along with that, time was running out. The Freeze would start around the next month, and finding another island and _then_ building his apparatus would take too long!_  
_

As he began to make his plan for the trip, the only one that stood against it was Toothless. Hiccup may not be able to talk to dragons, but that doesn't mean he couldn't tell the expression on the Night Fury's face. You got to understand, the reptile just wanted what was best for the boy, because he had been through enough, and just visiting the place can give him nightmares for a while; being reminded many of his misery. However, Hiccup was a stubborn boy, he may know the consequences of his actions, but he also knew that _not_ going to Berk and getting the equipment was _much_ worse. Toothless knew it as well - as they always think things through together - so he'd sighed in defense and let the boy hop onto his back as they made their way to their destination.

:: ::

_Berk..._

_(Night fall)_

On a mission of stealth, the dragon rider landed safely on the cove Toothless had once stayed. After four hours of flight, the brunet fell to the ground in relief from exhaustion - same with the Night Fury. Hiccup admired the scenery, even if it's dark, but the moonlit sky shines it's crystal light entirely, making it look more peaceful than beautiful in mid-day. Hiccup stared at the cleared sky as calmness washed away his worries, but that moment didn't last long; he has a mission to complete.

Still, he misses this place._  
_

The darkness was the perfect time for stealth, for not only does Hiccup needed to sneak into Berk using it's shadows, but for Toothless to hide in it at the cove as well, in case any wondered shows up. But who in right mind would come here in the middle of the evening?! Well, you can't be too sure, and the risks are too high.

"Ok, bud, you know how this is gonna work, right? I go in, you stay here, and I come back out safely. I doubt it will take long, for everyone in the village should be sleeping," Hiccup explain.

Toothless squinted his eyes in a questionable look, maybe saying, "_You better be right about this, Hiccup. Don't you dare get caught, promise me that._"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, I promise. Like I'd said, everyone should be sleeping by now, and there would only be a few guards on patrol, I can easily sneak pass them," Hiccup pet Toothless' head, "Ok then, be right back..." and with that, he jogged and climbed out of the cove, leaving the giant black lizard to keep an eye out in the dark.

:: ::

_Village square_...

Hiccup's heart were punching the wall of his chest right about now. He crouched hidden from bushes, then to buildings, and then to bushes again. Somehow, he watched in surprise that his former tribe were still thriving out in the street in the middle of the night.

'_What the hel are they doing out here this late?_' Hiccup thought. Due to the crowded street, it was going to put a huge impact in his plan, but suddenly, every men, elders, women and children were now walking along with each other to the same direction.

Curious, Hiccup followed the rest and found that they were heading to the Great Hall. In the inside, it was glowing with light, loud music played that even Hiccup could hear from his distance, and many shouts and laughters were made.

'_So they're having a party, huh? Well what in the world are they partying about?_' Hiccup wanted to know the topic of their celebration, but quickly remembered his objective. Sighing, he turned back and headed to the Blacksmith shop. Luckily, after the last person entered the hall, the streets were now once again empty, making it a piece of cake for Hiccup to get there. Even the guard patrols were absent, since no Vikings would pass up a party.

As he made it to the front door, he realized it was unlocked - no chain and lock on it. Getting more precaution, Hiccup turned to the back to use the back door. After making an entrance, he peeked around his environment; nothing's changed, just the same, even his drawings and weapon designs were still hanging by the wall. A flashback came to his mind on spur moment, remembering the time when he was at the age of nine when Snotlout - who, without the sense in his brain - started tearing up Hiccup's journal, where he made all of his drawings in it, just because he think it was stupid and "un-Viking" like. All of his life works were gone at that moment, and it took him years to gain only a _quarter_ back.

Shaking his mind back to reality, and still crouching, he crawled slowly to the craft table by the corner of the wall, next to the oven. Out of nowhere, though, he spotted _Gobber_...sleeping on the table. Hiccup almost flinched and yelled in surprise, but he let out his breath.

'_What is he doing here?!_' Hiccup yelled in thought.

It truly was odd that he's here. Gobber would _never_ miss a party, in fact, he loves it more than anyone here, and everytime he forgets about one, people would usually remind him, but this time, he was missing all the fun.

No time to think, Hiccup straightened his back, and as quiet as he can ever make, he grabbed the necessary items. There was the hammer, nails, wrench, iron tongs, some loose strings and ropes, extra scrap metals, punches, and a scabbard and _dagger_ (just in case).

With all the items in his saddle bag and an extra one for more inventory, he made his way out...until he realize he'd _forgotten_ something. As he cross more of his To-Do list, the more he remembers on something else he has do to.

He needed to make some new clothes.

Seaching around, there was no supple of thread and thread holders, metal bobbins, seam ripper, hand sewing needles, and many other supplies for clothes-making. He would have to sneak into Sahara the Hot-Headed's old tailor shop and get it from there. As Hiccup decided to make his next stop, he took one last look of Gobber. Oh, if only he could just talk to the guy one more time, but he couldn't risk exposing himself nor his secret, and with that, he left.

A few moments later, Hiccup arrive and picklocked the lock on the shop's door, since no one was inside. When he went in, he picked up as many tools he'll need and get out, simple as that.

But it wasn't.

As nothing has changed in the forge, so does the shop, and once again, the memory started to pour into his mind. He was ten when he needed a new tunic since his last one was torn to shred by Tuffnut and Ruffnut pranks by releasing a few wild boars - and who got blame by that? The answer is pretty _obvious_. Anyway, it was before the time he had to learned how to make his own, so as Hiccup were to get a new one, Sahara finally snapped, "_You boneless child! That's the fifth one this month! Why couldn't you just be like the rest of us?!_" was what she'd said - although she did say more than that, but it'll be too inappropriate. His father were out on another hunt for the nest, so these leave Hiccup all on his own without anyone to defend him. Of course, Gobber was his guardian, but at that time his was taking a leak.

Back then, Hiccup had no clue to the answer of Sahara's question, but now he knew:

_He just didn't want to be_. It was a _simple_ choice.

Flashing back to the present, he made sure he'd gotten everything he'll needed and made his way back to the cove, but unfortunately, another interruption was to be made to hold him back.

A roar was heard all the way to the arena, and Hiccup figured the obvious answer that those roar were the locked up dragons. He started to feel the needs to rescue them. After all, they're innocent...and they definitely didn't deserve _this_!

He looked back and forth from the Hall, the woods, and then the Kill-Ring, "I still got some time," Hiccup whispered, and ran to the captive dragons.

:: ::

It was a fools errand, to just walk in there and rescue about _ten_ dragons, 'cause that's about the total of how many there are in all of the cages!

Hiccup was curious on why there would be so much, '_Why didn't they killed them?_' he thought. It wasn't that hard for him to fit all of the puzzles; the Vikings were probably capturing - or _kidnapping_ - these dragons for either for game or dragon training.

Hiccup shook his head in disappointment of his tribe. It seems they had gone beyond under the human proportion, but he couldn't really blame them, right? They practically had no clue about the species. They had no clue that the dragons has as much humanity than they have.

Still, like Hiccup, someone could have at least _tried_.

Strolling around the arena to find the switch to unlock the cages. He'll need to release the dragons one by one, so there wouldn't be too much commotion or difficulties. As found and was about to pull the first switch, releasing one of the Gronckles, his eyes dead lock on the concrete wall. it was black and bitter from some sort of explosion that must've happened not too long ago, and then he remembered his own. You should know what it was; the release of the Hideous Zippleback, Hiccup saving those idiotic teens, and all of those cold-hearted _bastards_ framing him - it was all coming back to him again.

Hiccup's face started to darken with narrowed brows and a demonic look on his face that said, "_I'll get you all..._" and shifting his eyes back to the lever, he pulled it down.

_It was payback time_...

:: ::

_In the center of town_...

After Hiccup had released and calmed all of the dragon just as he had planned, most of them flew back to their own home, to their own families. The only remains were the previous Monstrous Nightmare, Deadly Nadder, Gronckle, Terrible Terror and the Hideous Zippleback that were captured since Hiccup was still living here. They were curious about the boy and decided to journey with him - probably the only ones that had no where else to go. Hiccup had a light-up-candle moment, which is why he'd brought the gang to the center of the village, a long feet away in the front of the Hall.

There was no one else outside, but all inside, of that place - beside him, the freed dragons, and Gobber. Hiccup was on top of the Monstrous Nightmare and was all-in-hel against his tribe. He knew it wouldn't make him better than they are, but it was more of..._justice_, if that's the right excuse? He had all the right to take it out on them, since they were never punished of their enormity! Hel, he'll be doing the world a favor.

Oh, how they are in for a huge _surprise_!

For the five dragons, they didn't really care at all about the situation. Sure the tribe had kidnapped them out of their free-will and was looking for good payback, but they mostly wanted to get out of here and stay _alive_! So this was up to the boy's decision, and whatever he chose, they'll do it; a way of repaying their dept.

And as he was about to lead the dragons onto a attack that would soon became a slaughter house, something else caught his ears that led him to the truth about his achievable mistake.

First, was that he had forgotten about getting _Toothless_ to join the fight - with all of the emotions that was going through his mind right now - and second...was the _children_.

He could hear their laughter along with the grown-ups. To be honest, Hiccup doesn't really have a grudge on them, just the people who had been the ones that treated him badly. There were some of the villagers that always tends to agree with the rest about his "flaws", and by "rest"...well, you already knew who they are.

So this was surprisingly new to Hiccup, and looking at that place from here, he realized these children never really did do any thing to him, so by taking away their parents, or getting killed in the process of a crossfire...

No, he couldn't bear those burdens in him. This was something new he had learned, but was difficult in seeing it.

'_What is wrong with me?_' Hiccup thought, but he was right. There was so much reason to destroyed his tribe, so much excuses and every right to do so, but he just couldn't. Little by little, the smallest reason that told him not to engage, always beaten the dark side in him. Even if the smallest reason were comepletly useless or have a way to manipulate it into a perfect punishment, but the good in him will always win. Although, that doesn't mean it'll come as an easy choice.

With so much opportunity to strike, it just became harder to fight between the balance of good and evil that had been roaming in the boy's head. As it was said before, but in a different way, the two unlike reasons just seems to equal each other out on both sides, but again, the good in him would always win.

To just sum it all up, Hiccup had a _heart of gold_. It just that the choices are hard...and it's going to get harder.

Hiccup had never realized that until further into the future, so it was unfortunate for him at this point for getting a massive headache on the pressure he was having, which leads to him saying, "I need to get out of here!" in a harsh whispered, and gestured the Nightmare and the other four dragons to fly towards the woods, directly to the cove.

As he got further away from the place, the more his head cleared out. Somehow, though, his thought kept thinking about Gobber's absence from the party; it seems irrelevant, but felt, strangely, very connected.

:: ::

_The cove..._

_(Five minutes from now)_

Toothless was eyeing the place cautiously for any intruder, until he heard numerous _wings-flap_. It was - well you already know who - while Hiccup was on top of the Nightmare. _  
_

Hiccup quickly got off and rushed over to Toothless, and felt a feeling of anger from the boy.

"Don't worry, bud, I'm fine. Look, these guys got no where else to go, soooooo is it okay with you if they can come with us?" he said.

Toothless maneuver his head to the left to study the five dragons, and then gave a shrugged probably saying, "_Yeah, they seem legit_."

He cheered and mounted on Toothless, "Alright, gang, just followed me and Toothless," he instructed the dragons, who nodded in replied.

All of them launched in the air simultaneously and flew back to the duo's home at the uncharted island.

Once they arrived back, Toothless was going to have to have a "word" with Hiccup, 'cause he has a feeling that something was wrong with the boy. After all, who knows what darkness lurks in the brunet's mind, after being stayed in his haunted place for even the shortest amount of time.

He just wanted to make sure the boy stayed sane and be safe - just like "_An eye for an eye..._".


	5. A Whole New Discovery

**_AN: I do not own "How To Train Your Dragon" and I have no idea why I am saying that; others does it, so why not me giving a shot. Also, if I DO own it, this story would have either been a movie, or a successful novel itself. _**

**_LizzyLory (7/1/2013): Ridiculous for us, but suspicious for Hiccup, and you should know why._**

**_Thank you all for the review, next chapter would mostly be about Berk, so hold your pants up!_**

**_Now, let's begin..._  
**

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

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**:: :: Chapter 5: A Whole New Discovery :: ::**

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Winter has come, which meant a month has passed since Hiccup's last unknown visit to his former tribe. Through works of craftsmanship, he began to distract himself from his past memory - or any way to forget them all - while also succeeded in making his useful gadgets and winter outfit.

As it was said before, every resources Hiccup needed was right in front of him: the trees, the rocks, and the lake located a few feet away from the cave. With the dragons help, he can easily take down the trees, melted the rock, and boiled some water; enough to make a forge of his own or an oven just for making food, like bread.

It turns out all he needed was his dagger and any archery type, such as a bow or a crossbow. In his time of hunting deer, rabbit, moose, or any other rogue or wild animals, he became aware of his amazing talents in _archery_. With his time of flying Toothless, it had seemed to be a good way to practice and enhance his precision and reflexes - if they were to come head to head with any danger or obstacle, of course. For his dagger, befriending the legendary Night Fury can have some perks to it. Toothless had decided to show his "student" the art of stealth, in order to catch his prey, while using the shadow to his advantage. It was obscured at first, but the brunet soon came to understand what the Night Fury had wanted to showed him through body language.

Hiccup didn't need to follow _every_ step Toothless has made to teach him, it was more of understanding how to use it in the form of a human, while comparing it to a dragon. Two sides would use the same trick, but two sides would use it _differently_.

So why the explanation of difficulty the boy was having if it all sounded so easy? Well, because the hardest one was the exact start of it all, having Toothless trying to _show_ Hiccup that he was trying to teach him how to hunt properly. Hiccup kept thinking of a different idea on what the dragon had been showing - thinking that he was trying to do all the hunt for him - but after _six hours_ of traveling in the wilderness and thinking what the reptile was trying to say, the boy had finally clicked it through his head. The duo may have great communication through body language and facial expression, but sometimes, it can have it's own flaw.

That was what Toothless had been wondering about. Hiccup had been trying to forget his past, but Toothless knew just as much that you can't run away from it. You can run, but you can't hide, and eventually, it'll catch up to you. Hiccup needed to face the past, in order to have a future, but the idea of _confronting_ Berk was way out of line! So, the best way to do it was to talk to him, let it all out on what was going on in his mind. If he doesn't...well, he might as well _explode_.

Toothless had tried his hardest to get the boy's attention, along with the five dragons, for they have grown fond of the boy and wanted to help, but due to the difficulty of communication, Hiccup would just pushed them away...and it was getting _really_ annoying!

Well, it looks like Toothless is just going to have to try harder.

:: ::

_Berk_...

The burglary Hiccup had pulled a month ago didn't go unnoticed. The next morning after he had left, Gobber woke up to notice some of his tools were missing. It is his shop after all, so nothing can change without his notice.

Gobber was pretty mad at first, but after some time of investigating - which resulted in everyone proven not guilty since they were all at the party without him - he had come to concluded that it was _Hiccup_ who had snuck in and stolen his stuff. It made perfect sense, for the fishbone was the only - besides himself - well capable of knowing and using the equipment the right way. He had even taught him how to used his environment to his advantage by crafting weapons once, such as using a single rock to make a sharp, stone knife or tomahawk.

He had taught the kid pretty well, but even with all the evidence, the villagers, including Stoick, _laughed_ at Gobber's face, for coming up with such a _ridiculous_ idea!

Hiccup, the little _runt_ of the village, still _alive_?! It was _madness_ they say, for how could that nuisance of a weakling survive his time in the woods, alone, for a month?

As no one would believe him, Gobber as well wouldn't believe _them_. But, the Freeze had arrive, and the doubt started to move into his head. No one could have survived the storm alone out there, even with as much hope he has, the weight of the contra was too high; he pretty much gave up at that point.

All of them - not just Gobber - had no idea how wrong they were...

The dragons escape was somewhat the most mysterious case they had ever seen. The whole place was locked up tight, and _no one_ was that dumb enough in their head to free the dragons, but still, they've escaped, and now the folks were getting frightened.

The break-out was impossible, so the Berkians were getting worried that these things were getting _smarter_ now. Fortunately, Stoick managed to calm everyone down and made sure they go about their days. Still, if you walk down the street, the market place, or the Great Hall, you can hear everyone talking about it.

Even _Stoick_ was getting worried.

Fishlegs had been going on about it, proclaiming more and more of his theories to his group. Some agree, but others don't; it just goes back and front through their conversations like that. The last speculation that got everyone laughing was when he announced how these dragons could be _studied_ for, instead of killing them...maybe to even know something that can give them the reason to _live _for. Fishlegs had always been the quiet one, but ever since that odd event, he had a feeling he could be a big help, which was why he hadn't stop talking about it. Sadly, almost the entire village didn't contribute to his theories, but he still sticks with it, which is good...because he had no idea how close he was to discovering Hiccup's work.

To refresh the training arena, they only captured a Deadly Nadder and a Monstrous Nightmare, since the only two competing students left were Astrid and Snotlout.

It was obvious who had won...

To all of the teens, they were doing, some what, okay with their life. For Snotlout, he pretty much has a happy life. When Hiccup ran away, his life became even better, as he was now chosen to be the next heir to the Hairy Hooligans tribe. Unexpectedly, being the heir was a lot of hard work than he had imagine. There was a lot of decision making, while these choices can affect the life of Berk, so there was a lot of pressure with every men, women, and children's life on his shoulder. Snotlout cursed at his cousin for leaving such a burden onto him, but the other part of him couldn't blame the guy, for he had thought that he ran away because of this job - or _life_.

He felt like doing the _same_, but with his ego-madness growing stronger everyday, he wouldn't submit himself as a coward.

Fishlegs felt _guilty_ of it all, but his desperation for fitting in was much more than he could hold, so he stayed shut about it.

Astrid was guilty too...for only a short amount of time. Remember her final words before she last saw Hiccup? Well, she wasn't happy at herself about that at first, but over time, along with the celebration, she got over it. In fact, what turn her frown upside down was when she manage to succeed in dragon training, placing _first_. She was honored to _killed_ the Monstrous Nightmare, and so she did...well, she did kill it, but got 3/4 of her beautiful blond hair _burned up_ and a broken arm and leg. It wasn't pretty...even _Snotlout_ was disgust by her new look.

You could say it was the consequence - or karma, as others would say - for her actions towards Hiccup, but boy was it just getting _started_...

The twins, in a quick way of saying it, were _bored_ without Hiccup. They hated that annoying kid, but the destruction he had always cause in his accidents was always the best and better than the twins; they _loved_ it! You could say they were jealous, but they were quick-minded, so they forgot about him eventually.

The status on Berk wasn't doing so well. Ever since the dragons' escape, there were less recruits and only one succeeded in it, and while at it, the raid had gotten _five times_ worst! Not only were the dragons stealing foods, but now also the _Vikings_. Few families were devastated by the lost of their children, siblings, and parents. Stoick tried a hunt for the Nest, but it was useless till the end. He prayed to every gods on why was this happening to them?

If only they knew...

:: ::

_The island that Hiccup and the dragons lived on and has no idea what to name it yet..._

_(Afternoon)_

A rabbit was hopping around the ground-snow in the woods, enjoying the beautiful sunlight in this cold day. It was wondering on it's own business, that is, until-

_WHOOSH! SPACK!_

An arrow struck the bunny, right through the head. A perfect headshot that represented a clean, and professional job-well-done. A figure walked towards it and picked it up, thinking that tonight he was going to have another roasted bunny for dinner.

The figure was wearing a black fur sweater - to camouflage himself in the shadows - while it's the same for his pants - only it's made out of silk - and an addition to it was a gray cowl attached to the neck of the sweater - to keep his head warm. He pulled down the hood as to end his today's hunt, and reveal to be none other than _Hiccup_. The boy sheathed his bow into the back of his leather-made strap.

The bow was a pain in the arse, but he was having trouble with the function of his crossbow. Every time he pulled the trigger, all the parts crumbled to pieces. Luckily, he was getting close to solving the mechanical problem of the device; maybe he'll even be able to fully complete it by tonight. Either way, he was still going to have blisters on his finger and middle-finger for a while.

After the walk home, Toothless was expecting him, and needed to have a word with him. Yes, yes, he tried it twenty times, but _this _time, it will definitely work.

Let's take it back for a moment...

The five dragons were later named by Hiccup, since it was hard for him to gain their attention without a proper name that suited them. Upon of his time getting to know the others, he eventually figured out their gender. The Monstrous Nightmare was named Ablaze, for catching himself on fire most of the time. The Deadly Nadder was named Dead-Eye, for being the sharpest shooting with her fire-breath and tail-spike. You could say she would be eagerly to catch foods for Hiccup, but it would always ended with the same reason - all the dragons understand that now. The Gronckle was named Dozy, for she kept dozing herself to sleep constantly. The Hideous Zippleback was named Spark (the one on Hiccup's left), for the spark he usually produce, and Miasma (the one on Hiccup's right), for his flammable/poisonous gas. The Terrible-Terror was named Nibbler...well, Hiccup had no idea why, but it sounded adorable for the little guy, like Toothless.

Toothless had always used his body language to communicate with Hiccup, while Hiccup uses his tongue, which he understand, so there were two different sides of communications that cancel each other out - for a certain type of situation which you already know that Toothless was trying to fix. Which is why, on an old ritual that Ablaze had told Toothless, will lend him towards a complete conversation with Hiccup.

The knowledge on this ritual are delicately complicated. It is involved with two main factor: The conjugation of science and the conjugation of the supernatural. And with those two main factors, comes with two main expectancies: Intelligences and wisdoms. Toothless has intelligent better than all of the dragons known to man, so that was enough, while Abalze has the high full knowledge of wisdom. Although, Ablaze usually has anger-issues, so it was hard to tell if he was really capable of his own control.

That was one of the ingredients for the success of the old ritual; _control_, and that the last ingredient you'll needed was the highest bounding relationship you have with someone. For Toothless, he has those two cross out on the list. He also expected Hiccup to have those two, and there was no doubt on that, for Toothless already knew Hiccup too well that he is capable of such task.

All he needed to do was to let Hiccup to tripped the wire, to pulled the trigger, to build the bridge between both of their minds...

Which is what led him here now on the entrance of the cave waiting for Hiccup's return. He belived that it will work, and that it wouldn't fail him now. Hiccup came into the cave smiling a fake smile like he always does, putting the dead rabbit by the fire-place. He sat down by the wall, resting his feet and back from the long walk. Toothless crawled up to Hiccup, while the rest was either out flying or sleeping, "Toothless what is it?" Hiccup asked, but all he got was Toothless guming his hand and kept placing it on his snout.

Hiccup thought that either his dragon was going nuts or _he_ was going nuts, but momentarily, he got what the giant reptile meant; he wanted him to pet him. The boy has no idea why, "Okay..." he said slowly as he place his hand on the snout, with the respond of the dragon purring and closing his eyes, "There you...um, feel better now, bud?" Hiccup was really confused on the dragons intention...but then...

_SPINK_

A quiet sound of a click popped inside the boy's head as well as the dragon. He felt as though the electromagnetic pulse on both of their brains are simultaneously flowing throught the same motion, while the energy of their life source - or soul, for better word - are distantly connected. Their hearts pulse through the same beat and at the same speed, their emotion were calm, the air in their weight was lifted, and when it was all coming down...

Time. Just. Stopped.

They both gave each other a blank stare, not knowing if they were still breathing or not. The color of their vision had all turned tan-brown. Every where in Hiccup's body felt nothing but thin air, and when it was long enough of quietness, long enough for both of them to concentrate and control the force unknowingly, two different words of two different voices, calling out each of their head...

'_Hiccup_...' was the first to say in Hiccup's mind.

'_Toothless_...' was the second to say in Toothless'.

Who were these voices you say? Well, they were their _own_; Hiccup speaking to Toothless...and Toothless _speaking_ to Hiccup.

They were finally communicating.

Not through voices, but through thought. A conversation only these two could have in peace. Although, they don't technically needed to use their thoughts, if they don't mind staring at each other blankly throughout the whole conversation, but they can use their voices if they wanted too. For Hiccup, there was so much to ask and so much discoveries to discover. For Toothless, it was his chance to save Hiccup, to fight back the shadows of madness within him.

Well then, Toothless, what are you waiting for? _Let's begin_...


	6. Walking On Thin Ice

_**AN: OH MY GOSH! On July 12th, did anyone see the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 teaser trailer?! I saw it, it was sooooooo amazing; I'm freaking excited! WOOOOHOOOOOOO! :D**_

_***Fun fact: The movie was said to be released on June 20, 2014 while the third one was to be on June 18, 2016. Between those dates is the day of my birthday...so happy birthday to me! :D**_

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

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**:: :: Chapter 6: Walking On Thin Ice :: ::**

* * *

Hiccup was bizarre at the moment.

Where he stood now was nowhere in his power to be able to move, but all he could do was to think and listen...listen to _Toothless_' voice inside his _head_.

'_We need to talk..._' said - or thought - the Night Fury. His voice was somewhat gentle, deep and adult-like, like the voice of an old man that had seen many things in his life through many years of generations, and filled with not just knowledge of subjects, but wisdoms, probably having similar voices like Ablaze, but that still remains unknown.

'_Wh-What's going on?! How are you do-doing this...and you can TALK?!_' It was Hiccup's turn for his reaction.

Just like Fishlegs, Hiccup would try to find a logical explanation for this turn of events, but mainly, he just shuts it and let the dragon do the talking for he was the one who started it, '_Calm down, Hiccup. Look, I know, it's confusing, or shocking, or scary - which ever fits - but there are more to be discussed-_' Hiccup was about to speak, but Toothless interrupted, _'-and DON'T start asking question, I'll get to that later..._' Toothless, in thoughts, took a deep breath, '_...this is only between you and Berk._' Toothless could feel and pictured the boy went wide in his eyes and showing a remorse of pain, fear...and an understatement on where this discussion will lead. Although, it was just the thought of their imagination that they can both see and shared to each other, but it was something they would do in reality. Toothless was going to have to play his card carefully, '_Hiccup-_' he said, but the boy cut him off.

'_No, no, no, just...I-I...Toothless, drop it, okay? I'm out and I won't be seeing any of these back-stabbing bastards again! Why, oh why, can't any of you guys just drop it?! I've been through enough, and just talking about it will only make things worse!_' He was rushed and hard with his whisper...so angery and frightened of his past and himself.

'_No, keeping it all in will only make it worse! I know you're scared - don't deny it - but it will catch up on you till the end; you can't run forever and you can't hide from it!_' Hiccup can picture Toothless stiffen himself, '_For this past month, you've been more hurt than I've ever seen you since the last time you went back to Berk, damaged in so many ways. Please...please, let us help you, I beg of you. I am scared for you - we all are - just...please..._' He started to choke on his words, '_...I have lost...my family, many of my kinds...and I don't want to lose you._' Hiccup could feel the pressure from the Night Fury's big, pupils, dilated, puppy-eyes, where he felt tears started to stroll down his cheeks.

Hiccup had nowhere else to go - _literally_ - and there was no point in hiding it, to keep saying that he's fine, cause it was obvious that he wasn't. The brunet was miserable, depressed, and angry at his own tribe. He felt like he wanted to destroy them all, since the Haddock had founded Berk, so can't they also destroyed it? However, the other side of him would always give him the better reason not to and win, but it would always hurt when he'd walk away.

Without any much left to go for, the only thing that kept him alive was Toothless. The other dragons would help, but Toothless was the most capable for he knew Hiccup better than anyone ever would, and since Toothless was the only one keeping him alive, Hiccup just kept pushing him away, like he wanted to die. Alas, part of him just wanted to bring the reptile closer for comfort; maybe avoiding the dragons plea to help was the boy's _cry for help_, maybe he wanted Toothless to break him in order to save him, like trapping in a prison cell behind a wall and Toothless blowing it up, freeing him. There was so much to react to this, but this one would be the best:

'_O-Okay...alright..._' Hiccup said, with a beating, sorrowful heartbeat, ready to pour it all out, and that was all Toothless needed to hear.

_SPINK_

Again, with that small sound of a click, everything went back to into motion. Time no longer stopped, their visions went back to their usual colors, their weights started to return, and air started to fill in their lungs. They both gasped at the intense force leaving through their bodies. Hiccup slumped back down the wall and looked around; nothing's changed.

'_Time really did stop..._' Hiccup thought, but no longer can Toothless hear it, for they were no longer in their _telepathic stage_. Although, Toothless could no longer hear his thoughts, the old ritual that the Night Fury had performed was already completed. The moment Hiccup touch his snout, it built a bridge that could not be destroyed, meaning that the two can talk to each other perfectly in different voices and languages every single day, while the telepathic stage was just the privacy if it was needed. Since the ritual was complete, there was no going back...but why in the world would they _want_ to?!

As for the other dragons, the ritual was performed only between the duo, so Hiccup wouldn't be able to understand them; they knew that as well.

Hiccup took a deep breath for a moment, "_Hiccup?_" Hiccup yelped in surprise to see the reptile _literally_ talking this time, not in thoughts. He had thought that everything had went back to it's natural stands, but Toothless senses his confusion, and quickly explains the whole thing before going back to the main subject.

When he was done, Hiccup thought back to the events, thought back to every thing that had happened even before his last "visit" to his former tribe, taking his time to re-organized, collecting himself, and then...

He finally let it all out.

He was sobbing, whimpering enough for the attention of Dead-Eye, Nibbler, and even waking up Dozy from her sleep, but Toothless gestured them to back off. He got this.

"OH GODS, TOOTHLESS! I-I can't take it anymore!...I can barely eat, sleep or think straight! Th-This is _killing_ me!" Hiccup crawled his leg up to his face and folded his hands over his head and continued crying, "Every time I fall asleep, I-I just keep having the same nightmare; it's driving me nuts!" He started to rock back and forth, "I-I've _saved_ Astrid and her friends lives, but then...but then they framed _**ME**_ of their faults! Wh-Why does this keep happening to me?! WHYYYYY?!" His shouting felt like he could bring down the whole cave. The three dragons stood watching with shock and pity, while Toothless just gave a blank stare. Thinking that it was enough, the Night Fury took a small space and nudged the little boy. Pulling his head up from his legs, their eyes met, and the little brunet gave a small whimpered, "_Help me..._"

Toothless placed his head over Hiccup's shoulder, and the boy wrapped around it into a hug. Water was trailing over the reptile's neck like a waterfall. With comfort of a brotherly love, Toothless whispered, "_Shhh-shhh...it's all right, Hiccup, I got you, alright? I'm here - you're not alone - I'm here...it's all gonna be alright, you heard me? We're gonna get you though this..._" Hiccup nodded as his agony started to slow down.

To be truthful, this event had hurt the Night Fury more than it had hurt the boy, but after this and the next morning, Hiccup felt _content_...and made a real _smile_.

:: ::

_Meanwhile at Berk..._

The last hunt for the Nest didn't go so smoothly as Stoick had planned not too long ago. With his pride of a Viking and doing-things-the-Vikings-ways, his action had cost the lives of thirty men on the hunt, while losing three ships in the process. Hunting during the Freeze was a bad idea - even Gobber had warned him about that - but the raids had become out of control. The bloodthirsty creatures were more rapid and active than ever before; avoiding getting captured, succeeding in rescuing their colleagues, forming new tactics, and getting smarter of their situation by the minute.

Stoick pulled in every strings and favors he has to other tribes for help, but ironically, they were doing the same thing - asking _his_ help - for they have the _same_ problem. Others would considered leaving, but with almost every tribes in the Barbaric Archipelago on the verge of annihilation by the dragons, there's no hope of finding a better home. Moving south could be one thing, but with the Roman Empire wanting the Vikings' heads on a stick, there's no way of living there as well.

People would call this the end of the Viking era, while others would called it the end of time, for sooner or later, the dragons would increase their territory and wipe out the human race. But, with all of that signs of defeat, Stoick still wouldn't back down.

It took him a while, but after drinking, sleeping, and punching his head on a rock, he finally lit a candle...

"Stoick, you can't be serious?!" Gobber yelled, sitting across from Stoick at the table in the Great Hall, and bewildered by another one of his "genius" idea.

"Think about it, Gobber, it makes perfect sense! The dragons live in the Nest, so they know where is the Nest. All we have to do is chain one up, and follow it's directions," Stoick educated.

"And how the hel are you going to let it show you the directions? Remember, these things are quite smarter than they used to be, they'll probably won't give you the answers right away, nor tricking them."

"I don't know, but I got a feeling about this one..."

"Yeaaahhh, and the same with the last hunt we went on, and the other one, and the other one before that...the list goes on." Stoick gave a dirty look at Gobber on his response.

"Look, this is something no one has ever tried it before, this is something new, and with that, there's a chance for us to fight back. Who knows, maybe we'll win this time, I mean, Gobber, look around you," said man did as he was told and saw that the Hall was empty but the two of them, "_Everyone_ is scared out of their wits, and if you haven't notice, no one - at all - is outside doing their work! I'm losing control on everyone! Now, I don't say I'm desperate-"

"You _are_ desperate..." Gobber mumbled; Stoick didn't notice.

"-It's just that we're running out of options here, and this is the best chance we've got. Come on, Gobber, didn't the two of us always dream that one day we would conquer the Nest and end this war? This is our chance, we would be in history once this is all over." Gobber kept his eye on his cup and thought for a moment. Part of him that was really disappointed in Stoick was that he really did want to take over the Nest...but with his _son_ standing by his side one day. Now, he's talking like he was _never_ married, nor had any children. Still, the more importance of the subject was the safety and survival of everyone in the village, so...

"Alrighty then, when do we start?" he asked.

"First is making it though the winter. We can't afford any more problems, so it's best to deal with this one first, taking care of things one by one," said Stoick.

"Okay, I'll tell Spitelout and he'll tell the rest." Gobber stood from his seat and walked out of the Hall. Although, his mind kept thinking about Hiccup and Stoick...and shook his head in disappointment.

:: ::

_A week later..._

Once every able warriors were in agreement with Stoick, he appointed Gobber to gather other alliances to fight alongside with them from the new theory he had. The teens were acceptionally joined as well, thinking that maybe the new generation should be part of history, paying off their hard work in dragon training.

See, these were the things that Hiccup had _hated_ them for the most! These mindless barbaric _idiots_ had always _underestimated_ their obstacles and had always _overestimated_ their _own_ strength! Overestimated and underestimated so much, that they would go as far as to bring along _children_ into battle. These were the things that, after Hiccup had left, made him think that maybe Stoick, the chief who is suppose to _**protect**_ his tribe, would be the _cause_ of their annihilation.

So far, the Bog-Burglars were willing to help, due to the circumstances they were in similar to Berk, and the same goes for the Hungrian Tribe, the Valkore, the Wolfskull, and more and more._  
_

Berk still has enemies, such as the Outcast Island, so it was best to avoid them.

The last stop for alliances before they were all set for the next eight months, was the Meathead.

Gobber parked his longboat by the docks and made his way to one of their War Quarters buildings along with some of his crew.

"Well, well, Gobber the Belch, nice to see you again," said Mogadon, chief of the Meathead. The man was somewhat the same height as Stoick, blonde hair with a thick beard like every Viking, and wearing a left eyepatch and a right pegleg. He's muscular, but mostly fat.

"Yes, same as you, old chap...so, right down to business?" asked Gobber.

"As always, don't forget to tell Stoick about the bet that he owes me." Gobber rolled his eyes at that statement. The Hooligans and the Meatheads had always been a rivalry to each other through sports and competition, _especially_ Stoick and Mogadon. Their last match had ended with Stoick losing a race, so now he owns him fifth-teen sheep and two cows, which is a lot, base on how much they keep losing them in every raids. But when it comes to dragon killing, they worked the best together.

After a few explanations on how their plan was going to work, the chief agreed to provide them with some aid for the upcoming battle. It was nighttime, so the two had a drink and talked about their days and the days before that. It was peaceful at first, until Mogadon _screws_ it up with the question, "How's the chief doing with the loss of his son?" Gobber almost spit the ale out of his mouth, but he swallowed it with a choke of a cough.

"Uhhh...well, not the way you expected, buuutt...he's doing _fine_." The chief choked his eyebrow, whether thinking that Gobber was just joking around or being really serious with it, "I'm not really sure though, the Stoick I knew would be grieving for the lost of his love ones, just like Valhallarama, but Hiccup...I can't really tell. He acted like he was glad to have finally gotten rid of a burden, which even _I_ seem to be convinced...but other parts of him looks like he's working harder than he ever could, just so he can take his mind off it." Mogadon was awestruck by this. He never expected Stoick to behalf like this, even for the lost of his _only_ remaining family.

"Jeez...I'd never thought Stoick would act like that. I mean, I know the boy and I don't favor him that much, but still, he _was_ his son," said Mogadon.

"Don't worry, he'll come-"

_BOOM!_

Gobber's last word was cutoff by a loud explosion happening outside. Every warrior in the barracks grabed their weapons and shields and marched towards the battle.

Mogadon grabed one of his lieutenants by the shoulder, "What's going on? Is it another dragon raid?" he asked.

"_Pirates_! Captain Orchish and his crew are invading and taking everything they can...you know, the _usual_!" The responded man put on his helmet and dashed into the raids.

"Ugh..._pirates_!" said the chief, with a disgusted tone on the word, "pirates".

"You need a hand?" asked Gobber, looking for some action.

"Sure, if you help, tell Stoick I'll clear off his dept."

"Well, I didn't really ask for that but-" Again, Gobber was cutoff with Mogadon dashing off into the fight, ignoring him.

"Okay then...let's go boys!" he ordered his crew to come along with him, and they did as he said.

Out in the field, there were two sides that were completely different from each other. There was a differences with the weapons. For the Vikings, it was their Ulfberht and Ingelrii (sword type), spears, war hammers, battle axes, and shield for defense. The pirates, was their good old fashion Cutlass (sword type), some daggers, and boarding axes. Clothing was different as well, with the Vikings wearing chains of armor, steel plate, and some not even wearing one. The pirates would wear, nothing as well, but the most wore leather armor. However, even with the differences they have, the easiest way to describe them - along with the way they acted and reacted to each other battle - was that they're all _bloodthirsty_ _barbarics_.

The fight was continuing, while the crude bastards of the pirates were kidnapping any civilians, including children, for slave trading, as well as stealing any valuable properties. The Meatheads were winning, but the battle would come with a great loss.

The fight was about to be over, but just before that, the Gods decided to add a little surprise...

A loud, piercing shriek, unmistakeable of a battle cry of a Night Fury, roar and shook the earth of every heart on the land. Everyone looked up, and come down a blue plasma bolt of fire, hitting exploding on one of the pirates' ship.

The pirates quickly withdrew their attack and turn to their new assailant. The Vikings chase the rest down, while the rest get ready for any dragon attack. But nothing came. All there is was the thundering battle, produced by the Night Fury, as the battle rages on, on a new location. Many could see it up close as one by one, each and every pirate ships exploded to bits and pieces, preventing them to escape.

The Vikings stared awestruck, as the dragon was helping them capturing their enemy through destroying their only escape. What got them even more amazed was when it attacked the crew on one of it's ship that was full of the tribe's captured civilians, rescuing them from their captive and leaving no casualties on the innocent.

One odd thing about the dragon was that it had something _lump_ on it's back. It was a _human-like_ figured, that was what they could see, but the main question was what in the name of Odin is a man _riding _on one of those _beast_?!

They were confused, so confused on what they were witnessing, that most kept their eyes at the legendary dragon and rider...and _ignored_ the run-away pirates.

It was really dark, but they could still see the duo fighting off the remaining pirates. Although the one thing they couldn't see...

Was the rider's burning, firing, passionate, _green eyes_, shining at the battle with it's reflection from the fire of chaos.

* * *

_**AN: FINALLY! Some action around here!**_


	7. An Unsung Hero

**_AN: Sorry for the delay, my partner is taking a two weeks vacation, so I pretty much have to wait until he returns to update. Sorry..._**

**_Anyone who wondered if there will be Hiccstird; yes, there will be...just not the most romantic or cheesy love-type of way you can expect, or else this story would be IMPOSSIBLE! Also, if any of you thought that the last chapter was the moment; it wasn't the moment, but the beginning of it. You'll see what I mean..._**

**_Shadowmaster (7/8/2013): 1- Thanks. 2- Yes, because beauty is one of her things beside training, and no, it's not permanent. 3- Yes. Reason? Part of reconciliation._**

**_Ipod12 (7/8/2013): HECK YEAH IT WAS! :D_**

**_NightFuryOne (7/15/2013): Waiting for the movie is like waiting for my birthday - literally - so yeah...pretty long._**

**_The last thing I would like to say is thank you, Warrior Nun, for the PM review, which was well thought, and along with that, it helped me escalate my story...but mostly just this chapter._**

**_P.S: I'm going to have to work on my "Dragons: Warriors of Berk" story, so I'll have to put this on a time out until I get that one chapter up. Sorry...again._**

**_Enough talk, let's begin..._**

* * *

**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

* * *

**:: :: Chapter 7: An Unsung Hero :: ::**

* * *

_The island Hiccup STILL hasn't named yet..._

_(Before)_

Things were beginning to quiet down for the human and the dragon. It has been a week since the brunet had finally opened up everything that was torturing him. It felt good, letting it all out, through peaceful, cooperated, and supportive talk with the Night Fury. Having kept all of those weights in him for so long was like a knife impaled forever into his heart.

Now, being far away from his people, Hiccup began to heal on his own, although the hatred still stayed...but _controlled_.

With so much free times to spend - due to the cooperation with his small "family" from hunting, which pretty much set them for the next six months - he started to adjust and upgraded his personal inventory.

A blast arrow was something that had popped in his mind ever since an attack from the wild bears, boars, or any other wild animals. If he would ever come to encounter all of them at once, or individually, he would scare them off with his explosion or make an easy kill of defense - without using and wasting the dragons' shot limit. Another idea was _leather_ _armor_. It seems like a good idea to have some protection, so a chest, vambraces, and pauldrons should be enough, and leather armor wouldn't be too heavy to wear and carry. In fact, maybe a little adjustment as a rider outfit would be a good way of protecting himself from both air and ground, just add some belt and harness to it and that's it!

What's next, Toothless wearing a _metal helmet_, like a warrior? It wouldn't be a bad idea, but it was best not to occupy himself _too_ much.

Now, making these items would have taken a while to complete, but by accident, the duo manages to stumble into a small habited village called Raingard. Fortunately, no one had spotted the rider, so Hiccup had hid Toothless somewhere a mile away from civilization. Although these may be Vikings - which he despises - but at least these people aren't the Hooligans. And it was a good thing too, for Hiccup had the need to talk to another human being or anything involving human topics, like having a normal conversation. Not like the Night Fury asking the boy every question about his own kind since he'd known very little of it, and he was supposed to be the _smart_ one!

For example, once, the two were talking, Hiccup had told Toothless a story about his previous birthday, and the overgrown lizard had no idea about it, which leads him into asking many _extremely_ annoying questions about the difference of ages! Some are quite _disturbing_...

Despite the annoyance, it was still good to be able to talk to the big guy, or else he would have gone _totally_ insane from isolation. In fact, if Hiccup had never been able to talk to Toothless, the seventh of the group would have stayed somewhere else near civilization, just so they can prevent the boy's lack of socializing.

Raingard had the right amount of supplies in Hiccup's list, but not complete, so he'll have to work on the rest back at home. While in his short time there, he managed to make some friends in the market place, although he had to create many lies to prevent any suspicious and blowing up his secret. The people were nice, but still gave him odd looks as a _hiccup_, wondering how the kid survives on his own like this. He told them he was just making a small travel from his family's small temporary island, while tried not to wonder too far off on his own with their boat, but made a stop here for a little trade to get some extra supplies they'll need when they took off for their next destination. No one had paid attention to know if he'd _really_ did come through the docks, so they had no right to judge it without the acquired knowledge and decided to go along with it. After getting what the brunet needed, he took off into the woods without anyone noticing, making them think that he had left the village from the dock.

He never came back.

It was a very active week for Hiccup, as he had finished everything he had wanted to build, even the metal helmet he had made especially for Toothless. It wasn't necessary, but safety is their top priority, just in case. The helmet was designed to cover anything above the head of the dragon, meaning his head to snout, but not his eyes to his jaws, for it would be impossible for the dragon to see or be able to open his mouth. However, a flexible strapper under the jaw to keep the helmet on would be the perfect place for the design. Since it was just a prototype, the rest will have to wait, if they ever wanted one of their own.

The blast arrows were one of the hardest to be made. The ingredients to create such a destructional weapon are complex and highly unstable, due to making any slip-up would cause their whole cave to crumble down.

As the Gods favors upon them, Hiccup didn't manage to kill himself.

:: ::

_Beyond the clouds..._

_(Present)_

Soaring up in the skies lies the rider and the dragon. The two had done more hunting along with the rest, and after the end of the day, the duo decided to have some fun in the air, while the rest goes home and ate their dinner.

In the orange sky, all you can see are floods of clouds flowing in the air that look like a perfect pillow to sleep on. Seeing it in such view would be like heaven. It was quiet, lonely in a good peaceful way, and the obvious-

_WHOOSH! _

Exhilarating.

Bypassing through the clouds was the dragon rider. Hiccup was wearing everything he had made throughout the month. The crossbow - equipped with blast arrows - his dagger - modified to be more light and sharp - his gear - colors of black and brown on the pauldrons, chest, and vambraces; some leather and some made from the Night Fury scale for fireproof - and the very last, Toothless' safety helmet. There was no time in putting these stuff away since the duo was so eager to go flying, while there was no harm in it as well.

Toothless' body shot straight up pointly at the sky, letting the golden warmth light of the sun shining through their body. His mind always clear and always clean, full of freedom and confidents, and having his little human by his side as his luck. The same feeling goes to the boy; in the air, this is where he _truly_ belongs. So big, so vast, so peaceful and so quiet with beautiful scenery of their surroundings. It was breathtaking to be so gifted, to be able to see such a view in ones life.

'_If this isn't Asgard, then I don't know what is,_' Hiccup thought. Although, Asgard was known to be a Hall where noble warriors feast by Odin's side until Ragnarok, but Hiccup had always pictured the Hall would be someplace like this. A floating building up in the heaven. A place where no one can bother them. A place of union and independent. Feeling with so much confident and having lack of fear, the brunet decided to do the next big thing, "Alright, bud, wanna race me on a _dive_."

Toothless' head popped up and turn his best angle at the boy, "_Woah, woah, are you INSANE, Hiccup!?_" he yelled.

"Relax, Toothless, when we get close enough to the ground, I'll easily flow back onto your back and we'll fly up safe and sound," said Hiccup, while unhooking his harness. Pushing towards the boundary of their trust, the brunet took his left foot out of the pedal, he stood on top on the Night Fury with his two feet, lifting his two arms out like a statue of an angle, letting his eyes close...

And he took a leap of faith.

As Hiccup jumped, he could've sworn he heard a pierce voice of an Eagle. Hiccup felt the wind blowing hard on his face, but somehow, in the middle of the air, he felt as though he was flying on _his own_. It was _different_ and full of pure pounded adrenaline rush than flying on Toothless.

_There was more freedom in this!_

When the boy opened his eyes, he could see the Night Fury doing the same head-dive in front of him, making a growling sound of joy, "YEAHHHH!" Hiccup cheered. For a moment, he felt sad that he _wasn't_ wanted to be needed like this - seeing how happy his friend was - or sad that he couldn't feel like this on the reptile's back, and have to be falling apart from each other in order to have it. On the other hand, if he could at least be by Toothless side, and Toothless by his, sharing this amazing sensation...then no doubt it was all worth it!

Better than having _nothing_, right?

The duo realized it was high-time for Hiccup to strap back onto Toothless when they emerge through the last cloud, revealing the ocean-floor coming to a close. Hiccup fall closer to Toothless' back and hopped on, hooking his harness, placing back his left foot on the pedal, and pulled up.

_WHOOSH! SPLASH!_

It was a close call, but when pulling up, they were only a mere inch from contact with the water. Luckily, thanks to Toothless' speed and wings expansion, he manage to flew and avoid the water through a perfect ninety degree angle. The wind they produce had enough force from the close distance to punched the water in impact.

"WOOOHOOOOO!" Hiccup yelled, very intense at the moment. For the remaining of the sun hanging, the two were flying smoothly enjoying their view. Until dusk finally came, it was time to go home, "Well, bud, time to turn back," he said.

"_Alright_," Toothless replied.

_BOOM!_

"What the-" Hiccup looked over the horizon to his right and spotted a large glowing orange light coming from a near-by island. Positioning Toothless' prosthetic tail, he shift to the direction, heading toward the affair.

"_Uh...Earth to Hiccup, what are you doing?!_" Toothless asked, worryingly.

"I don't know...just need to see what's going on," said Hiccup. He was right, it was just curiosity that made him go for it, but he also felt a real importance to what was happening on that island. Even Toothless was curious.

Pulling up his cowl - covering most of his head - the two ascents up in the dark sky, using his dark outfit and Toothless' black scale to camouflage themselves from any danger that might come in their way. Flying closer to their destination, Hiccup realized it was a battle happening upon a village, and he could have sworn it was the _Meathead_ _Tribe_, based on the familiar setting.

'_It is the Meathead Tribe!_' Hiccup thought in realization. It wasn't long ago, but he had visited the tribe before with his father when it was about a business trip involving chief duties. And by "business trip" he meant any _contest_ that can beat Mogadon.

Like a spy - or scout - he kept his eyes on the ground, taking note on what was happening on either side of the fight; same goes for Toothless. Their enemy was the pirates, that was the obvious, but the hardest part was to determine who was winning on the fight. Based on the damage of the island, it looked as if the battle had been going on for a while, so either side should have come up with the advantage by now.

"_The body counts on the pirates are more than the Vikings; they're losing a lot of man, but the pirates are looting more valuable and kidnapping more of their people in the process. By the time this fight is over, neither side are going to win,_" Toothless reported.

Hiccup could've helped the Vikings, but he despised them. Hiccup could've helped the pirates, but he despised on what they were doing. He always knew that pirates sometimes kidnapped men, women, children, or the elders for profit of slave trading, and he hated the lot of them for it. At least _Berk_ didn't do something this disgraceful! So, only one side was available, and with that one flaw of the pirates, it was enough for him to pick a side...and he felt as though he might regret it. Then again, he's going to regretted either way if he choose the other one...so why couldn't he just _ignore_ them?

These lead to another self-discovery for Hiccup, as he'd realized that with a heart of gold; when it come a chance to _avoid_ and _let_ people die, he _wouldn't_ do it in a heartbeat! No, he just hated them, _that's all_. He wasn't a vengeful spirit and hateful monsters like these people are; _not anymore_. Going back with the same lesson he had learned on what seems like forever ago, '_I will **NOT** stoop to their level!_' and he can thank Toothless for that, for making him realize that again.

"Alright, Toothless, I think it's time for us to make an entrance," Hiccup said.

"_Again, are you INSANE!? I don't think that's wise,_" argued Toothless.

"There are _people_ being held captive by these pirates! If we don't help them now, they'll be shiped off to slavery, even the _children_!" he reasoned, but the word "children" seemed to be more effective.

"_Pfft...fine, but you're gonna owe me some extra salmon when we get out of here alive. Now, hang on!_" With a loud shriek of a battle cry, the Night Fury dived head first into the fight, locking onto his first target, and shot a firing plasma blot...

_BOOM!_

As a Night Fury _never_ misses, Toothless made a success hit on one of the pirates longboat. His first priority was to take down any ship that doesn't have any civilians on it. If he wanted to save them, he was going to have to take down each and every full-enemy ships for getting in the way, while Hiccup can guide him. With darkness as their ultimate advantage to strike, no man can scope their movement. Even his prosthetic tail was unable to be seen, due to it being dark enough to hide in the sky, even if it's brown.

_Boom_ and _bam_! Turn left and turn right! Each shot counts, and each shot saved more countless of lives. Minutes have passed as more captives stood confusingly on what was happening; having the Night Fury shot and blew many of their capturers into the water without hurting themselves. It was quite irritating for Hiccup to keep snapping them out of their trance, "What the _HECK_ are you guys doing?! Get back to the shores!"

_See what he means?_

For those who _does_ have enough senses in their brain, they quickly got themselves freed of their binding and started to roll their boat back onto land. The battle was _two_ against a _hundred_. The duos were outnumbered...but the pirates were overly _outmatched_.

Toothless, having reached his maximum shot limit, was exhausted from over firing, but luckily, Hiccup has a trick up his sleeves. "_Huff...darn...I-I'm out..._" said Toothless.

"Well _I'm_ not." Hiccup pulled out his crossbow, loaded and ready to cause some mayhem. He took aim at an open boat, filled with only their enemies; a perfect shot for a perfect kill, but he began to think, '_I'm about to...kill someone..._'

Hiccup didn't know if he could do it, for he had always been afraid to take another's life, or believed there were better answers to solve than violence. A _pacifist_ he is. The one time at his attempt on the lives of Berk was different, for he was at his uncontrollable stage of vehemence. It was a moment of weakness, but it was a good thing his good side prevented him from making the _biggest_ mistake of his life, even if he doesn't know anything about it. Toothless killing off the pirates a moment ago was different too, for all Hiccup did was maneuvering the dragon's flying, while the dragon was free as a bird to fire wherever he pleased at his own free-will. _This_...this time, he has the only power to save them all, his conscious are cleared, and the choices are open up for him to make.

Will he disgrace his belief to save what's left...or watch and let it burn?

This was what he gets as the consequence of his choice by entering this warfare. There was no turning back and a new path awaits him. Thankfully, because of the old lesson in remembrance and a new discovery of himself earlier...

He _pulled_ the trigger.

_PHEW!_

In the wind and time of slow-motion, the arrow makes its way through the sky and onto the boat. The speed of the arrow itself plus with the impact of the floor-board ignited the putty, disrupting it's stable effect, corrupting and unbalancing it's chemical elements, and-

BOOOM!

Well, that sums it up.

Bodies were flying everywhere from the explosion. All bloodied. All limbless. All _dead_.

Hiccup was not proud of it, but it had to be done, for the civilians that had took over their capturers boat made safely pass the destroyed-ship. Toothless was caught surprised at what the boy had done, but that subject was to be saved for later, since there was more work to be done. As Toothless finished regaining his energy and Hiccup's pack of exploding arrows by his side, their powers are _doubled_. The brunet reloaded his crossbow and took another aim, while turning the pedal forward to make a dive.

This was going to be one _hel_ of a ride...

After much chaos erupted at the sea, the onslaught had come to its close, not even pass _quarter of an hour_, and having the pirates retreated in fears and cries.

The duo were hovering in air, staring and taking in heavy breaths from close encounters of death, Hiccup's first kill, and success in their first combat as dragon and human working together. They had won. This was a victory. And yet, all they could care about was that it was all over and that they had survived, along with the countless of lives that were saved as well. Some pirates were captured while on land, thanks to Toothless blowing up their only escape route.

As they hovered, all the Vikings around were staring in awe and...well, shocked, if that's as much as it can be described. In spite of camouflaging in the dark, the duo were close enough to the warriors and were caught in the spotlight of the many torches held by them, staring and keeping their eyes in the sky of their hero...or _villain_.

Dragons are their enemy, it was the most common knowledge in the entire world; they were taught through it their entire lives since the moment they were born. It was their tradition, it was their culture, it was their _life_, so to adjust their mind on the opposite of their knowledge...would it _really_ be that _easy_?

"KILL THOSE DEVILS!" a man shouted.

"TAKE IT DOWN!" same with the shieldmaiden.

"BLAST THAT TRAITOR!" and the elder goes last.

The two turned their heads to watch as every Viking warriors readying their arms for another fight. This time...against _them_! Fortunately, some were on their side, trying to persuade their companions to lay down their weapons, while others found it useless and tried to warn their savior to fly away quickly! All were the captives, while few were the warriors, themselves.

"WHOA!" Hiccup yelled and ducked as a spear was thrown pass him. Toothless roared in anger for the attempt to hurt his human, but said boy told him not to engage, for they will _not_ sink into another conflict. They had enough for today.

The two flew away in a flash and were gone in the mist of the eyes. As the sight of the mob's adversaries disappeared, no longer did they want the duo's heads...but that _doesn't_ mean their questions were settled.

:: ::

_The nameless island..._

_(After)_

"_CAN YOU BELIEVE THEM, TOOTHLESS!?_" Hiccup shouted in his thought. Back at the cave, the two entered into their telepathic stage of communication just so they won't disturb the sleeping dragons. Hiccup was obviously mad at the depth the Vikings repaying for them saving their lives.

"_Hiccup, calm down. Not all of them were like that; some were really thankful by trying to stop one of their own to hurt us,_" said Toothless.

"_Hmmm...you're probably right. At least some appreciated our help!_"

Hiccup was about to leave the conversation when Toothless made one last statement, "_You know...I was surprise when you first took out those pirates. I thought you never wanted to kill?_"

It was silent for a while until the Night Fury could hear a sigh from the boy, "_I was surprise myself too - probably scared - but what other choices do I have. You would have taken too long to recharge and the pirates would have hurt more of those innocent people. What I did bought them more times,_" Hiccup explained.

"_I understand. Just promise me you won't go change on me, almost like last time,_" he referred to the moment of Hiccup's attempt on Berk's destruction.

"_Don't worry, I promised. Come on, let's go to sleep, better tell the rest what had happened to us, tomorrow._"

"_Heh...yeah_," Toothless chuckled, and the two separated their minds. The boy and dragon went to their bed and fell instantly to a deep sleep. However, it still bothered the brunet of how some of those people in the Meathead Tribe had shown their "affection" towards him and Toothless. It pisses him off - which didn't last long, actually - but sometimes in life, some man, some _hero_, will just have to become an _unsung_ hero.

And _those_ types of heroes are the _best_ out of all the rest, 'cause they help so much..._but demand so little_.

* * *

**_AN: If you guys are big fans like I am in HTTYD, search for the song called "Beyond the Clouds" by Audiomachine. This song was used in the second movie trailer; it was so inspiring! Sadly, it's not in iTunes._**


	8. The Lone Rider

_**AN: This week had not been easy for me, so I apologies for any mistake I've made or if you feel that this chapter is a little crappy and that it doesn't have enough detail to make it more intriguing.**_

_**MadMaxLaxBro (8/14/2013): Thank you for the four reviews in one day, I really appreciate it!**_

_**Warrior Nun (8/5/2013): Ah yes, I remembered that, love it! Though, I forgot what episode it was.**_

_**Avatar Conner (8/18/2013): It's hard, but Hiccup knew that if he gave up now, he'll just prove everyone right, and he is one heck of a stubborn boy to back down. He is weak in physical, but great in mind. If you have read "The Real Hero", it pretty much sum up your review. **_

_**Now, let's begin...**_

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

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**:: :: Chapter 8: The Lone Rider :: ::**

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There is always a story to tell in an aftermath. Some good, some bad, some boring enough that no one gives credit for...cause it's always the same.

This one is entirely different. This one is meant for history to remember, and something to be taken in a _very_ serious from.

_The End-Bringer of Time._

_The Savior._

_The Lone Rider._

These are the three names of the three stories that were told by the witnessses from the event that took place at the Meathead Tribe.

_Five hundred and sixty-four_ witnesses in total had watched what had happened. And in total, it was divided into three sections of their own way to tell the story...by their own _beliefs_. Some in fear, some in amazement, some in _truth_.

Not a day goes by where you can walk in the middle of the street of your own home, having not hearing any of your friends, family, and neighbors talking about it. It had been two weeks, and now half of the world knows about the legend. It seems obscure, but then again, five hundred and sixty-four people had saw what had happened. Some lived here in the Barbaric Archipelago, some lived from foreign countries that visited the sea, and some of their very own enemy even counts as their witnesses. And because by the total amount of how many different types of people, the three stories had spread fast like an epidemic.

The End-Bringer of Time, as some had called this mysterious rider, was meant to bring in the destruction to the world as the cause of their own sins. A destruction, a sign of the coming of _Ragnarok_. Many superstitious folks were frighten by the tale, while the End-Bringer was mostly describe as a monstrous demon from Helheim to finish the job.

"_I watch in fear as this demon rips apart in the air of his enemy in a single blow with that beast. Chaos raptured in the sky as lightning fire falls onto the many lives at sea. It incinerated them to dust like they were nothing but ants! It was not of any dragon I ever knew, and it was nothing I have ever seen it do, but if the power is because of that rider, then I say this is truly the end..._" said a soldier, who was on a bounty mission from his village, Raingard. Yes, there were some details left about, but most people focused on the important parts, such as the _fight_, _death_, and _destruction_. Because of their attention to those three, some had just forgotten about the hostages being rescued. As for the tale, it was mostly for the ones who were really religious or really superstitious - which is practically _everyone_ these days - but with a hatred towards the dragons.

The Savior, was the second thought from others on this rider, who said that this _angel_ was sent from Asgard to fight for humanity in the coming of Ragnarok. To tame an unstoppable dragon - led alone ride it - was a sign of it's incredible power, showing that it could conquer evil, and that it was only just the beginning of it.

"_A glorious battle indeed. This warrior of a rider came out of nowhere in the dark sky, hiding beyond the heavens, riding the legendary Night Fury, as he took out his enemies one by one, without the lost of the tribe's own citizens who were caught hostages. This guardian angel saved them all; a true hero he is. And to tame a dragon?! This man must be very powerful. I wouldn't want to mess with him..._" said an old timer, who was on a regular trading mission from his homeland, Britain. At that very night, the old man knew this was the "unholy offspring of lightning and death", being ridden by an angel of death. Even though he'd got most part of the scene in order, too bad he'd over exaggerated like the first one. It was almost the same, being said for those who were really religious or really superstitious, but didn't let the blind side of them take over.

The last one, though, got it just _right_. Here's how...

:: ::

Berk...

Stoick stood by the docks, waiting for the return of his closest friend. He was - and expecting - to hear some good news about the team-up with other warriors from other tribes for his plan. He was excited and eager to get the attack started once winter has come to its end. Since the day his plan had been formulated, he had never worked harder in his life as Chieftain. Some say it was because of without that little nuisance of his to cause more trouble, and that the boy was a burden of him that had been lifted. But very few knows the truth, that it was because he was ceasing the memory of the boy. He'd worked harder to distract and forget him, just as he did when he had lost his beloved wife, Valhallarama.

'_I promise I'll always be there for you_,' he remembered saying that promise, and shook his head away from it. Hiccup was the only link as his own family and he had broken it. He tossed him out and then said those awful words at him.

He will never, _ever_ forgive himself.

Backing into reality, Stoick watched as a faint shape popped into his view.

It had Berk's _crest_ on it...

Sighing in relief that the waiting was finally over, he gathered a few men to set the ship in place and help unload some of it's cargo. Walking toward Gobber, the chief greeted, "Welcome back, Gobber! I expect that the alliance formations are a success?"

Between the two weeks of the spread, Berk was one of the fifth village to have heard about the news, so you could guess who was going to be telling the story later, "Yes, as you planned, but uh...you mind to get _everyone_ to the Hall? There's something really _important_ I gotta tell." Stoick motioned his head from left to right to see some of Gobber's crew facial countenance. They looked like they had seen a ghost.

"Gobber, what happened," he whispered.

"It's best if you hear it with everyone else." The fat man walked past the vast man.

"Can you at lease tell me what it is about?" Stoick grabbed his friend's shoulder and put him to a halt, hoping to get some hint of cognizance and curious on either the news to be good or bad, but by the looks of everyone, it's seems bad enough.

Gobber turned and looked in the man's eyes, "It's about an _attack_ at the _Meathead Tribe,_" he turned and walked away. The dept. of Stoick's perception was well enough to see the look on Gobber's face that says, "_It's not what you think...and you're never going to believe what I'm about to say_."

He was now either worried or just more curious than he was before, but did as his friend had requested.

Although it wasn't much of a request.

:: ::

_The Great Hall..._

Moments later, everyone was inside the Hall; the teens were sitting by their usually table, "So what do you think the Chief has in store for us today?" asked Snotlout, saying as if it was their regular routine of having _constant_ meetings.

A female figure walked over to them and took her seat. Her hair was un-braided like it used to be, due to having it shortened all the way to only her neck, and the edges were uneven, while it appeared to be "out of shape". For her limp, it was her left arm and right leg that were in bad shape, ever since she had gotten it from the fight with the Monstrous Nightmare. Her leg was starting to heal a lot better now, but her arm was still in it's cast, which should take about one more month or two get better. Scrap-form of deep scratches ran across her forehead, but weren't damaged enough to leave scars on her skin. All in all, she _wasn't pretty_.

It was the oh-so-perfect _Astrid Hofferson_...

"Whatever it is, it better be better than the last," she stated. Her form of beauty were dissolved by the signs of awkward comfort from everyone on the table by the sight of her presence. Snotlout was staring at the celling, not doing a good job at pretending he was paying attention to something else. Fishlegs was whistling and looking at the door waiting for _nobody_. Tuffnut was trying to act natural by whistling too, but failed to do so as he had never learned how to do it. Ruffnut scratch the back of her neck and gave an awkward smile at Astrid.

The blond had no idea whether to be mad of neglection or be happy about it from Snotlout lack use of flirting and avoidance.

"All right, all right, settle down! Gobber has a very important announcement he would like to make. Gobber?" Stoick declared, and the said man walked up front of the stage, follow by the total of eight of his men who would also like to share what they saw, in case they have to vouch for him as his words are true.

"Thank you, Stoick," said Gobber, and his eyes were calm as it usually was, expecting for confusion and then to shock for what he was about to say. Indeed, he had planed out how all this will fall into place, "Ok, as you all know, we had planed another search for the Nest. This time, it is granity to work with out newest theory..."

_'Where is he going with this?'_ Astrid thought, bored out of her mind.

"...so we'd set out to gain more help in our upcoming fight. The last one to join our allegiance was the Meathead Tribe...but something happened while we were there..." Gobber paused, looking uneasy, but calm quickly and get to the point, "We were attacked by pirates - nothing more than we can handle - until _he_ came."

"Uh...who's "he"?" asked a women, following with the other audience.

"Would ya let me finished?" Gobber snapped, "Listen, I swear, I have never miss-led ya, nor have I ever lied to ya. I did, however, always exaggerated a _little_ bit-"

"Not really?" Snotlout shouted.

"Okay, fine, maybe I have always exaggerated _too much_, but I promise you that this is _all_ true - even _these_ guys here agree with me, right?" Gobber's followers nodded in agreement, murmuring something about "dragon", "black", and "rider"; no had a clue on what they meant, but they're about to find out, "Someone had interfered with our fight. What we all saw might be the scariest thing in our lives, or the most _confusing_. What we all saw made no sense in what we all know about dragons," a deep breath he took, to bring in the big-bang, "This _man_, that interfered our fight, took out almost every one of our enemies, _alone_, but that's not all, the way he took them out one by one; was _riding_ a _dragon_." The hall went into murmur of questioning, mostly saying "what" next to each other.

"Riding a dragon? Looks like Goober has _finally_ lost it," said Tuff.

"Riding a dragon? That's impossible!" Fishlegs argued.

Some broke into a laugh as the most obscured thing they have ever heard. "Silence!" Stoick bellow, "Gobber, what the hel are you talking about? What non-sense is this?"

"It's true, and it's not just any dragon, but a _**Night Fury**_," one of the group said, and the next thing you know, all the folks went into clamor.

"I saaAIID BE QUIET!" The roar from Stoick this time was more of a warning than a calmer - shutting everyone for sure, "Alright, right now, none of ya - including you, Gobber - is it true? Do you all have any proof?"

"Proof? Stoick, we know what we all saw, we are standing by our words here. Hel, when _Mogadon_ comes, along with some of his soldiers, ask _them_. I promise you, they'll say the exact same thing we did." Behide Gobber, the group nodded in haste as they were all dead-serious.

"*Sigh*...fine, what more can you tell?" Stoick let him continue, but still doubtful about it, like the time he had told him about his encounter with a mythical dragon, the _Boneknapper_; an odd dragon that steals the _bones_ of the dead and claim it as its _body armor_.

"Well, as much as we can say, he _saved our lives_. He swooped down in the air, riding that wild beast, and blew all of those wretched pirates to oblivion! It was nothing we have ever seen!"

"Oi, did you see what the rider looked like?" said Spitelout.

"Sadly, no. It was too dark for us to get a glimpse of his face, it was covering himself all black like the Night Fury; black as night, but well enough to know that it was in fact, a man, based on his size," one meekly answered in the group.

"Well whoever this bloody bastard is, he's a _traitor_!" as in on cue, the audience released an agreement of uproar. The voice of the opposition was the old, annoying, cold-hearted _Mildew_; one of the village elder, and a very pain-in-the-arse man to tolerate with.

'_Oh great, not this old hag again,_' Astrid scoffed in thought, and the same goes for Gobber.

Besides the hatred against dragons - which everyone can put up with - the old coop tenses to make ridiculous complainants about their every day lives in the smallest detail...which was why they put him in the far end of the village, high up in the mountain, so they don't have to deal with the man. Yet somehow, in some unfortunate miracle, he managed to walk a few miles down _without_ getting himself killed in his age, let along walking back _up_! "Mildew, that rider saved our ass out there, he at least deserves some respect!"

"Respect my ass, mate! That rider has sided with our mortal enemy and a traitor to the Vikings! Whoever this rider is, he's an abomination to humanity!" The crowd went wild in agreement, and knowing there was no way to beat the odds, Gobber and the others made their way out of the Hall; fuming they were. However, Gobber spun around to made one last statement, "_None of you_ saw what we saw that night. He and that dragon of his saved every inch of the Meathead Tribe, recusing civilians without a scratch on them, so don't ya even _think_ about jumping to conclusion!" The two gigantic doors shut from the outside world at the end of Gobber's words.

Everyone believed the group, but not in their way of viewing it. All they could think about was how someone was that stupid enough to betrayed his people and siding with one of their most obvious enemy in the world; it was madness! They couldn't even think of _why_. "Eh-hem...okay then, everyone, go back to your day, I'm going to go have a word with Gobber." Stoick awkwardly made his way out of the building as the folks enjoy themselves.

The teens themselves were shocked at what they had heard, "Oh man, can you guys believe it?" asked Fishlegs.

"Man and beast, working together? I think I'm going to be sick" Astrid said, disgusted at the motive of this mysterious lone rider.

"Ugh, your_ look_ is already making me sick," Tuffnut admitted, but then got a punch to the stomach by his twin and another punch to the head by Astrid herself, knocking the boy off the table unconscious.

Lesson learned: Never tell a girl she's ugly nor pretty in front of her face.

Astrid could have punched Snotlout too, for not trying to flirt with her by saying that she wasn't ugly to him, but the ego-maniac just sat oddly at his seat, staring at his unconscious friend. A sign that evidently says I-totally-agree-with-the-guy-but-I'm-too-afraid-to -lose-my-beautiful-face.

With a sigh, she stood from her seat and walked out of the Great Hall to her home. She could have gone to the woods for more training and get her mind to relax and clear off things, but ever since her victory in killing the Monsterous Nightmare, people had started to look up to her more, and expected from her more. Responsibility were everywhere now and then for her, so it could be really stressful. It wasn't in anyway she had expected; she'd always thought that it would be the same as it always was, but it wasn't. '_What has this world come to?!_' she thought frustratedly, not about Tuff's comment on her look, but about the subject earlier.

Indeed, what _has_ the world come into?

'_What's next, Snotlout being nice?! Ha!_' The girl was so exhausted from her day that she began to exaggerate. Once she gets home, it would be a good sleep...but start all over tomorrow.

Although, from her thought; it wasn't, but something bigger was coming.

And once it's over, no one will ever forgive themselves...

:: ::

_The forge_...

"Gobber?" Stoick asked for the sign of his closet friend in the building. He could hear metal being hammered by the cornered, next to the smelter.

"Over here," he responded, though not in a happy mood.

"You want to talk?"

"No, there's really no point."

"Come on, my arms are open," Stoick insisted. Gobber put the bended sword away, along with the hammer.

"I don't know what's right anymore, Stoick. Dragons are always the mindless, killing machines we all know, but after what happened at the Meathead Tribe...I can't help but think that maybe we were _wrong_." Stoick's eyes widened and grabbed Gobber on both shoulders. It was such a surprise that maybe he would need to changed his _undies_ again...

"Don't you _dare_ say that! You remember what they did to _VAL_! Were we wrong then?! What about Hiccup? His bone could be use as a toothpick by one of them right about now! No, they are wild, murderous, blood-thirsty, savages animals, and Odin knows they don't deserve to live in _our_ land and in _our_ world!" Stoick walked towards the door, he was livid at this point, "WE'RE GOING TO DESTROY THEM _**ALL**_! _**ARE WE CLEAR**_?!" In fear, the belch man nodded fearfully, "Eh-hem...good...sorry about that...uh...well, see y'later." The Chief closed the door shut, feeling a little light headed from his outburst.

"Awkwaaaard," Gobber sang in union.

_He should have seen the sign_...

Three days later, Trader Johann came by at sea. The man was a trader, and one of the most popular salesman to the whole Archipelago, who had not heard of the event, so Gobber and his previous group filled him in in their version of the story.

And later as you know it...the tales of _The Lone Rider_ was born.


	9. Fate

_**AN: Alright folks, we have 89 reviews so far. 89! Just 11 more to go until we reach the jackpot. This is awesome, thank you all! I am trying to make a mile goal here; getting 100 reviews before September 9 (when my school starts). Also, for those of you who haven't notice, the S.O.P.A (Stop Online Piracy Act) Act is no more. That is right, 100,000 signature in petition were sent and approved by our government, and now, the S.O.P.A. is done for.**_

_**Now, let's begin...**_

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

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**:: :: Chapter 9: Fate :: ::**

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_A month later_...

Gói, the month of love.

You could say this is the month where Hiccup would feel pretty depress for the lost of love, but to be honest, it really doesn't effect him that much.

To him, it was just another regular month; he was use to that...

Far out in the mainland, Hiccups curiosity had grown to its new state, thus, having him explore more uncharted territory. Though, he had to be careful not to get any attention from the Anglo-Saxon or the Roman that he was a Viking. Even if the boy once was, it still doesn't matter to them. The three sides haven't been easy to each other since the beginning of the Dragon War. Still, with the grudge against each other, they still accept trading all sides.

His travel had been going on for two days, but for people who travel by boats, it had taken a month. A perk of having trained a dragon.

Hiccup and Toothless had left Dead-Eye in-charge of the group - mostly because she has more leadership in second than Ablaze. The Nightmare pretty much felt like it was always his best to follow the command, which was why there was no hard feelings when the duo chose her over him.

With more information on the building-connection-ritual Hiccup had gained from Toothless, he began to work on his own to unlock the communication with the rest of the dragon. The challenge ahead was complicated; there were moments when Hiccup needed to bond more with the others, while there were other moments when Hiccup needed to use the strength of his mind to force the connection, due to the lack of cooperation from the others mind to bond, which led him to use this option. The first option had taken long, but the second option were painful with heavy headache...so it really doesn't matter on which side he'd take.

It had taken a while, but sooner than later, he'd gotten through to everyone. Now, live would be easier for him to commune.

On the land of the Roman Empire, stood a small town, and in the small town stood a big inn. The town was called the Imperial Portchester, a smelly, dirty land - but well known for it's port industry. Easy to know it's location at the edge of the mainland, south of the Barbaric Archipelago, but as barbaric as the the Vikings can be, the Romans were the same level in different ways. The big inn was called the "Fishery Boot" - origin of it's name; unknown, though it does smell terribly like a _fish in a boot_...

It was late evening, and people inside were laughing, chattering, and watching as some had brought in their slaves for entertainment. A few of the women were force to dance for the men's entertainment for many hours without rest, until they felt as though their feet were bleeding.

Some actually _were_, based on the sound of their whimpering...

By the counter, stood a young man drinking a mug of water. He was all black in clothes, cowl hanging above his head, blending in with the crown as best he could. The hood was unnecessary, but under that green eyes and freckle face, he was twitching and sweating in fright. With all the skills he was good at, lying was out of the question.

Maybe there was just too much _good_ in him to lie...

He cursed underneath his breath for his good act of nature sometimes, but unknowingly, he would soon be needing it. Turning his head to focus on the commotion by the corner, he sees slaves being tortured and humiliated by their "masters". He was disgusted by their inhumane; _sickened_! The Vikings had done the same thing too, but they turn in _prisoners_, not the innocent. Just when he was only out for vacation of exploration with his best friend, there were always problems needed for him to solve.

Then again, it wasn't his business...he _could_ just _ignore_ it.

Nah! Seeing others in need of help while the world ignores them except him _is_ his business!

When all else fails, _he_ doesn't!

Hearing as much on the conversation the slaves owners were having, they were talking about "The Lone Rider", just as he had heard about it before, along with "The End-Bringer of Time" and "The Savior", right after the fight between the Meathead and the Pirates. He'd like "The Lone Rider", that one was the best, and mostly true about him, and he couldn't help but creep a smile.

He'll have to thank to whoever had started that story...

"So, tell me, what's a lad like you doing out here all alone in gears like _that_," the bartenders gestured to all of him; his leather armors, crossbow, hunting knife/dagger, and flying harness (which the guy couldn't tell what it is). Indeed, the boy did look strange; probably asking for trouble in a crowded town like this, but fortunately, people here get a different idea from the kid, and decided to stay away from him...unless they're looking for trouble themselves.

"I'm, uh, out here for vacation, but um...just bringing these things along just in case." Unnoticely, the young man squinted his eyes shut in hope for the man to fall for it.

"Heh, I can see why; a place like this can be dangerous for anyone who travels. Never know who you'll bump into..." The entrance burst open with the party leaving the building.

'_Two bodyguards, a group of five, and three captives_,' he thought. "Whelp, I got to go, long walk tomorrow." He placed two silvers on the table from the meal he'd just ate. The bartender gratefully took the payment.

"We'll, good luck to ya out there...uhhh-"

"Hiccup," said boy turning and leaving...following the party.

Why would he use his real name? Because by an hour, he would be long gone.

:: ::

This might be the weirdest moments of Hiccup's live, because he's actually _stalking_...

It felt so wrong, but he was going to have to free the slaves one way or another, and no way he can go in brute force!

_Stealth_ was his ultimate advantage now.

He followed them through the crowded market area, and then into the woods. There, was the perfect place to strike, he just needed to time it right. The reason for the party to travel into the empty dept. of the forest was beyond him.

The five richmen were drunk to nothingness, so it couldn't be a problem to knock them out, but the guard could be a problem...

"Hey, Greg, me and the boys are gonna take a leak, you- *_hiccup_*...watch these girls," said the bearded man, and the said guard nodded, followed by his partner. The man left with his friends for some privacy.

'_Ok, the five are gone, which leaves only two remaining. Less work, but I need to move quick!_' Hiding under a bush, Hiccup slowly crouched his way to the first guard, who was staring blankly at the slaves. His head popped up, surprising the captive, but Hiccup quickly silenced them with a gesture of his finger in front of his lips. Still undetected, he pulled out a wet and dry cloth, taming with certain chemicals he had made back at home. The others were curious on what he was going to do with it, which they were answered with him covering it on the man's face, putting him unconscious. Hiccup quickly slid the body into the bushes and approached his next target.

The second guard was looking at the path where the five richmen had left, waiting patiently for their ruturns...and that was the last thing he remembered.

The body fell and Hiccup hid it in closest bushes. Putting his "weapon" back into his small back pouch, The three women sighed as the suspense was over, "Okay, listen carfully, there's another town an hour from here, keep running through that direction..." Hiccup pointed at the west of their view, "...and whatever you do, _do not stop_! You will be fine if you do as I said."

"Who are you?" the madam with a chestnut hair asked.

Before the boy could answered though, they heard a branch snapped, "No time, you have to leave now!" In his loud - but unheard of in two feet radius - and harsh whisper, the three freed slaves made their run together.

"Thank you...for everything," said the same women, with an agreeing nod from the rest.

Satisfied with his accomplishment, Hiccup ran the opposite of their direction and back into the Portchester's market before the group comes back to find...well, you know.

'_Anothe day, another job well done_...' he thought.

Making back to the area, the street was still crowded with people; mostly travelers, and it was odd to see so many active people in such a late hour.

Then again, Vikings party all night long, so what's the different...? They stay indoors, but that's because of the cold in the north, they would have done the opposite here.

Pulling his hood down and sweeping the sweat off of his face. There were no casualties again - thank Thor for that - and it was such a relief that it was an easy one this time.

'_Wait until Toothless hears this_,' Hiccup grinned at the thought.

Leaning against a building's wall, he kept his eye out on the folks and the woods, in case the party returns...just to make sure if somethings goes wrong.

Although, as focused as he is, he can be a little bit _too_ focused on the subject...for a figure walked towards him...on his left side...hands reaching out...and _grabbing _him!

"WHAT THE-"

"Hiccup? Is that you?" This was completely unexpected, not a thing to ever consider to happened - not in a long shot - but it happened. Right in front of him, the said voice, was _Jessica_...

Jessica, citizens of the Raingard, and best friend to the chief's daughter. Her brown eyes meets his green and her blond hair waving loosely in the wind, "Heeeeeeeyyy...Jessica, uh, how are you?!" Hiccup awkwardly asked, but really didn't give a care.

This was bad, really, REALLY _**bad**_. He had known her when he took that visit to her tribe. It was long ago, but not forgettable. If you had remembered Hiccup's lied-story, he was a trader on a travel with his family, traveling the world; that was what he had told them when he made friends there, but now, with the gear he's wearing, it'll prove that he was a fraud. He would pray the Gods to let him go unnotice, 'cause if she knows one thing - just one slight ant - then he would be compromised.

He can't let that happen, not with Toothless waiting for him, he can't let anyone follow him...

'_Okay Hiccup, think! How can you dodge this? Sh-she-she...uhhhhh, OH, she likes to talk about herself...like, A LOT!_' Hiccup thought and put back on his fake smile, "Soooooo, what's brings you here in this little neighborhood?"

"Hiccup, don't you remember? I told you that my family was a trader, like yours. My dad made me come here so I can learn how to handle the job when I grow up and take his place. He said you were a _fine_ example of one." At that last sentence, Hiccup eyes lit up. No adults had _ever_ gave him compliments before...but then his eyes fell down when he had realized that it was a lie of it, a lie in which something most Vikings wanted coming from themselves, not wanting what was coming from _him_..."Uhh, Hiccup, you alright?"

Her voice brought him back to reality, "Oh, I-I'm-I'm alright, just lost in thoughts for a moment..." he responded.

Before she could say anymore, she spotted what his was wearing, which she started to redden on her freckle face, "Why are you dressed like that? Going on a war or something?" she joked.

"Uhhhhhhhh..." He knew it, he's done for. Now it's the only good chance to run like Hel, that is, until...

"Well, if you are, you should join the _Invasion_, but we all know that's never going to happen!"

Somehow, Hiccup felt like the situation has changed, "Wait, come again?" he asked.

"The Invasion - the hunt for the Dragon's Nest - don't you know? The Island, Berk, Chief What-it's-name discovered a way to find the Nest, and I got to admit, it does make quite a lot of sense."

"How...?"

"Dragons come from the Nest. If they come from there, then they know where it is. It is their home after all." Huh, didn't see that one coming..."The attack was said to be made after winter is over; shouldn't be too long before we can finally end this war."

Hiccup felt the worst coming on. In instinct and in gut, he felt that something bad was going to happened if these people take the trip. Stoick was going to take them to their _graves_. He couldn't be too sure though, perhaps Toothless would have the answer.

"Well, um, it was nice seeing you again?" He turn around to walk away from the awkward moment, but stop again by Jessica.

"You still haven't answered my question..." she said.

'_No, no, no, NO! Come on, Hiccup, think again! How are you going to get out of this one- wait, BINGO!_' Spinning around, he nervously put his plan into action, "Umm...it's, well, sorta...just...look, I'm gonna make this quick, I'm still having trouble getting over it after all these months." Her eyes were focused on his words, "I got tired of all of..._this_," he gestured to all of the merchants and traders, "All my life, I've been doing the same, boring stuff with no action around here, nor any appreciation," he downed his head in disappointment, "I've been trying to live up to my dad's expectations, but it wasn't working out...so I ran." Jessica gasped, but it wasn't over, "Now, this," he gestured to himself, "was not expected, but it's better than being in the sea all day. Out here, on land, I'm _free_. I can go anywhere I want, I can make my own choice. People can't judge me, but I can judge _them_." He thought it was a lie - his act - but really, all of his words were _true_ in metamorphic explanation, "And best of all, I can still travel the world if I want to...just takes a long time, but it's worth it." The "long time" part was actually the lie.

"That sounds like a good life..." Jessica said, though, with a spit of envy.

"But it's still _hard_ though. Sometimes, it's _more_ than just freedom. Sometimes, this is about _survival_. And everyday, I fight and survive _for_ freedom." He looks into her eyes one more time to sooth her, "I know how you feel, I can see it in your eyes, but trust me, you live better than I did, Hel, _I_ should be the one envying _you_," it was all true in his tongue and her face was _priceless_, "Now I got to go, and trust me, live your life...you're doing better than I did." Hiccup walked away like he was being followed by his enemy, waiting to strike up on him.

"So, that's that, huh? Will we every see you again?" Her last question, mentioning of other people Hiccup had made friends with in her homeland.

He paused, thinking of his adventure and where his life had taken off to answer the question. He turned around, "I'm sorry...but _no_," he pushed off into the black wilderness, across from the other one, leaving a disappointed look from Jessica.

:: ::

Five minutes and Hiccup had arrived at the meeting point. Up in the tree, Toothless was sleeping like a bat, "Toothless!" Hiccup called whispery, which the over-grown lizard groan in return, "Come on, bud, we're leaving," said dragon spun down with a eager face, ready for a flight. He love it so much.

"_Alright, finally! My wings are getting sore! Where are we going next?_" said the dragon.

"Home."

"_Home? Oh, ok, I guess we should return, I mean it's been a week since we'd left. Let's go!_"

Eager as Hiccup himself, the brunet strapped himself onto the saddle, and the duo took off. There was more to discuss once they got back, but for now, he had his own thinking to do. The meeting with Jessica was such a coincidence, it was a close call, but the one that got him thinking the most was his speech at the end...

_("I know how you feel, I can see it in your eyes, but trust me, you live better than I did, Hel, _**_I_**_ should be the one envying **you**.")_

'_Was it true? Did I really mean that?_' he thought. The answer was both _yes_ and _no_ at the same time. Yes, for the happiness she has, and no, for the life of lies she has to live with; the lies of this war, but especially the lies of the dragons.

_("But it's still **hard** though. Sometimes, it's **more** than just freedom. Sometimes, this is about **survival**. And everyday, I fight and survive **for** freedom.")_

'_But was it worth it?_' Looking at the northern lights sky he is in and the joy of his best friend, he couldn't help but smile and laugh, '_Yeah...yeah, totally worth it._'

_This war has got to stop..._

* * *

**_AN: Now, I'm not too sure if you guys get the ending, but...yeah, not sure how I can really explain it. See ya next week! ;)_**


	10. Weakness

_**AN: I have writer block for the first time, so i have no idea where this chapter will go. "Weakness" is basically the flaw that every epic hero always has, so I would like the story to talk about that as it would lead to Hiccup's predicament, but I have no clue if this is enough...**_

_**Anyway, we did! 100 reviews! We did it! Pop the soda, open the chips, it's party time!**_

_**Ahem, now back to the matter, I thank you all for the support and reaching my goal before school starts. It has been a wonderful summer, and now, school is back on. Since last week of getting ready for school and typing my story till today, it had caused me to be "brain dead", along with the overuse and confusion of my morality and imagination. All in all, I had used my brain way too much for many stuff and many reasons over the summer. It is getting really hard for me to update the chapter every one week like usual, and because my bests friend/ partner - who is like Toothless to me - is more of a grammer checker than plot checker, it would be really hard for me to judge on my own. **_

**_ This is where YOU GUYS__ come in._**

_**I need you, my fans and reviewers, to start to ACTUALLY review, cause I've been getting a lot of "update soon", "love it", or "this is just amazing". If it is the meanness, ugliest, hurtful things you have to say, if it is the smallest thing you have to say, if it feels like it is unrelated, if it is the longest thing you have to say, and if it is an idea you would like to share (even the chances of rejection are medium), I don't care! Don't be afraid or doubtful, I actually WANT all of what I had just said! I want to know what you guys think of it by 100% precent.**_

_**Example: **__**How does my description of an event sound? Was it too little, too much, too confusing? How was the description of my OC? Too little? Is there a word I used too much and need a synonyms for those word? What is needed or not needed to be said in this story?**_

_**So yeah, questions like these are my top 1 in reviews and it would be great if you guys would answer it. **__**It is like my 5th grade teacher had taught me once, "The writer creates the world, but it is you - the people, the reader - who shape it..."**_

_**Also, I like to add that although readers aren't a big fan of the character being OOC, the changes in the event of the HTTYD universe in this story had seemed to be the cause of it. I'm good at this, I love it, but I'm not like Avnnak who wrote "Hitchups", now THAT'S what I call the the perfect AU story. *Sigh* I don't really know, what do you guys think? How does the characters fit in this story, that seems to be my number one question right now besides the others I just said?**_

_**Now, let's begin...**_

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**:: :: A Fool To Be a Hero :: ::**

**By johnnylee619**

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**:: :: Chapter 10: Weakness :: ::**

* * *

Every being in the world has its own weakness, a flaw, but what happens when your weakness is something that you are meant to _save_?

Hiccup was thinking it that way, but it's _true_!

For three hundred years, the Vikings and the Dragons had been at each others throats (maybe even the whole world with it!), and didn't anyone ever realize that they were at a _stalemate_? Each sides were losing more lives everyday, and if this keeps going, they might as well kill each other till extinction!

No, this war has _got_ to be stopped.

And Hiccup and Toothless are the keys to end it all...

But how? There was just too much to take in from his past to even think about that for a moment, even with the present of a Viking, but he was going to have to face them one way or another.

It might be the only way.

_Might_.

And to make things _worst_, the people he loathed are finally going to _find_ the Nest! He never thought about that mysterious location, but now that he can talk to Toothless and the others, it was high-time to ask.

After leaving Imperial Portchester, the duo were returning to their still-unnamed-island. The trip would take two days as it was said before, so both of them had settle down on a beach at another uncharted island for the remainder of the night.

"Hey, Toothless," said Hiccup.

"Yeah?" Toothless lifted his head up, darted at the boy across their camp fire.

"What's at the _Nest_?" Never had Toothless ever thought of Hiccup asking such a particular question, it had caught him off-guard. The answer was obvious; dragons, but he had a feeling there were more than meets the eyes to his question.

"_Why you ask?_"

"Well...there was this girl I met-"

"_Oooooooohhh..._" Toothless sang annoyingly.

"Oh hush! Let me finish!" Hiccup whined, turning his cheeks pinkish, "I met her before, it was at Raingard when we visited. She's one of the few I'd talk to back there, so she recognized me." The brunet kept close to the fire for warmness, "Now, we talk a little, almost exposing myself at the moment, but then she said something else that caught my attention..." he'd paused for the news to come, "My- _Stoick_..." Toothless growled, with a heavy wind tossing the fire back and forth angrily. Clearly, Mother Nature agreed with the reptile, "Calm down, bud. Here." Hiccup picked up a raw fish in his pack and tossed it into the dragon's mouth, catching it like a dolphin would.

"_Keep talking..._" he said, mouth full.

"Hehehe...well, Stoick _found_ a way to the Nest. He did it. That _bastard_ actually did it..." Suddenly, the dragon _spit_ the food out of his mouth!

Gagging, "_Woah, Woah, wh-what?! No way can that o-old fool actually find it!_"

"Yeah, I had a feeling you'll react to that. That girl, Jessica, told me that the old man figured out only a dragon could find the Nest, so why not use them... Toothless, what's _in_ there? Why does everytime I think about it, it sends a chill down my spine? I know there's over a thousand dragons and that the Vikings won't last, but I feel like there's more to it."

"_Of course you should feel that way! In fact, you're right; the Vikings won't stand a chance at that place! Hiccup-_" the dragon stopped himself, thinking over if it was right to tell him.

_Yes, yes it was..._

"_Hiccup, think of the Nest as a village, and every village-_"

"Has a chief," Hiccup interrupted and Toothless nodded.

_Clever boy_.

It was silent as Hiccup scooched closer to his pal, dirtying his pants with sand, "_There's something big beneath the mountain. Something more monstrous than the Monsterous Nightmare; pure evil. The Devil to us all. There's a reason why we raided you guys; without getting the required amount of food, __she'll_ _eat **us** instead. What I'm telling you, Hiccup, is that this dragon is the mother of all dragons._"

"She? A..._queen_?" he questioned, astonished by the info.

"_You can say it that way. It's like a beehive; we're the workers and she's the queen, she controls us. I don't know how she did it, but somehow, she hypnotized us - bends our will to no limits. To me, I guess the others and I are not since we'd got out of her field, out of her range. Far enough to be free, __thanks to you..._" Hiccup can see the pityness in Toothless' eyes, the pityness he has for his comrade, who were still clutched by the grip of their queen.

Surely, after the entire months together, Hiccup should have gotten the message of forgiveness from Toothless about the night he had taken his flight away. Yet, he still couldn't sake the guilt away. No matter what happens, nothing would seem to justify it, even if it was meant freeing his best friend from the queen, even if it was meant to be their _destiny_.

"Do you remember anything?"

The dragon thought this through to see what he has best so far, "_No, not much. All I remember is my number one priority is to please her, or else...well, you know,_" the rider nodded, "_And I can guess the group remembered it the same way I do as well._"

"What about _before_ you were caught by her?" Hiccup was intrigued by Toothless' past.

"_Well, as much as I know of, I think I used to lived somewhere further north...or west. I'm not really sure..._" His ears fell down into disappointment as to have realized his past was too far gone.

"Oh Toothless..." The boy had the needs to comfort his best friend, but it looks like the dragon doesn't want it.

"_It's alright, what happens - happens. There's no changing that, and there's no going back. I'm happy where I am now. I'm alright, really_."

Understanding by the look of his expression, it's safe to say it was time to move onward with the subject, "And when you said 'big'...how big?"

"_Hmmmm...imagine two regular Vikings being the size of it's __toe-nail__. Just the __one__ toe-nail._"

Their conversation fell into silence - or what seems like - had come to an end. Only the sound of the fire flickering and Toothless claw scratching the sand was heard of. Having his breath taken away with this new insight of the war, it was best to say that Hiccup was utterly speechless, who wouldn't be?! This...this changes _everything_! Everything about the war, everthing about the dragons!

Now, he knows who their _real_ enemy is...

"_Like I said, these Vikings won't stand a chance..._" the Night Fury concluded.

"Well we can't just-"

_SNAP!_

Before the idea could pass Hiccup's mouth, a snap of a branch was heard. It could just be an animal, but in the world filled with cruelty, one must always stay alert in a situation the duos were in.

"_Sharpen your senses, I don't think we're alone,_" Toothless growled.

"Yeah, I pretty much figured that out, care to make more of the obvious!" the boy murmured. Ah, the sarcasm...it's been a while since he had used it.

"_Ugh...you know what I mean!_"

"Is that boy talking to it?" An unfamiliar voice was heard at the hollow woods.

"Shut up, ya nitwit!"

"Who's there!?" Hiccup commanded, being combative. In his word, hustling was heard at every bushes, and before you know it, a spear came flying straight to his face. In slow motion, there was no hesitation, and he dodged it in a heart-attack.

"**_CHARGE!_**" shouted the intruder. Out of the field, seven warriors, or bandits, or muderers...or which ever these savages are, came charging towards them. Although they do dress like a Viking, with the helmet and all-that, there was no way there's civilization nearby, the two had scanned every inches of the island.

Whoever these attackers are, they were no where near noble...

'_Don't they have sense in their brain?!_' Or maybe conscience? These people should have realized that there was a dragon right in front of them; a dragon in which they have no clue about, so they shouldn't underestimate it. Yet, here they were, clashing down on them with the "Kill first, ask questions last" motto.

But how are they even going to ask later if they _already_ killed them!?

See, another reason why the Lone Rider hated the Vikings. It was pretty easy to seperate them between human itself, and it all comes down to their humanity, if they were even capable of having one now.

Oh Odin, what did the Vikings do to cause them to _unconciously_ lose their nobility they still _thought_ they have? Was it the war? Was it the thought that killing dragons for fun and games was humane? Indeed, for three hundred years, this was clearly a punishment for them and probably the world with it.

If they thought dragons were _savage_, _mindless_, _berserk_, _monstrous_, _evil_, _cruel_, and _wild_ _beasts_...

_Then why not turn themselves into one?_

"Toothless-"

"_ON IT!_" The Night Fury blasted a plasma on the left ground, sending four of the attackers flying in the air with their butts on fire. The rest were already moving in fast; another blast would kill them _all_ at once from the radius.

Hiccup unstealthed his dagger, standing ready and waiting for the first to strike, '_Here we go_...' he thought. If he has to..._kill _them, he'll need one alive for information.

_He would never get use to this._

A brute man swung his gigaintic ax, and as Hiccup slid to the left, time paused in his actions as he slipped to a thought of calculation, '_Battle ax; extremely heavy, deals heavy damage, but really slow, which is why it's a mistake to use it against me._' The ax sludge right through the sand and Hiccup took his chance by spinning a 180 degree before hitting the man square in the face with the hilt of his dagger, giving him a knock-out punch, '_My speed plus the steel hilt equals an unconscious man. Gain fracture bones by the cheeks, a broken nose, and anything else connected to it. __Full recovery; three to four months._ Psychological effect; traumatize that he's gotten beaten by a fifteen year old.'

It all occurred to this by his use of his weapon on his _left_ hand. In another word: he was _vinstri_. He had always known about it, but upon learning more of it from his former tribe, it was another stigma to describe himself, due to the world being more of the _right_ than the _wrong_. As hard as he tried not to be one of them, he disgraced every learning he had been taught from when he was a mere child, and began following his own path of survival, _his way_.

What's wrong with being vinstri? As far as he and the dragons knew, there had been no signs of others like him in that trait, making him more of an outcast - _which he is_ - so what's more to argue about it when he can just embrace it...?

Like Toothless, it makes him feel one of a kind.

That and that, if it is his capability to defend and _actually_ made it out alive, then it's just another way of proving how wrong the Vikings were in reality.

And to think of how a mere hand in the structure of the human body can also be treated prejudicially, like a _white man_ to a _colour man_.

_It's just disgraceful, period._

The next was taken care of by Toothless, who ran away cowardly by his roar (which the dragon laughed hardly at this), and as for the last one, it was all up to the Lone Rider, '_Distract him,_' he thinks and then he acted; kicking his foot up to throw the sands, covering the man's eyes, which he backed-off groaning painfully, '_Next, discombobulated,_' where he lacks in strength, he doesn't lack in speed, and where he doesn't lack in speed, he doesn't lack in force. Throwing both of his arms up and using all he's got, he slammed them both sides of the man's face, with the hilt hitting him on the left giving him more pain, '_Ears' ringing, now d__o a front-kick to send him flying,_' he did as his conscious said, resulting in what he had imagined.

Things started to settle down with the fight stopped. The ones who weren't dead or unconscious by Toothless scattered back from where they came from. The only one that stay though, was the last one Hiccup had fought with; he looked pretty frightened by them, judging by his already-scarred face, "We yield, we yield! No more! We'll leave you alone, just don't kill us!" Hiccup was livid at that point, for having their peaceful night being disrupted, but also because of the sight of a Viking.

But this one was acting strange. He was scared, not angry. Hiccup had never seen a Viking act like that before...but then again, you don't see a dragon and a rider together everyday, it was unimaginable.

Toothless, having the same thought as his human, lay his paw on the attacker's chest, forcing him down on the dirt, "Who are you?" Hiccup asked with blank face and a blank voice, but the Night Fury's growl were what made it more intimidating.

"We-we're sorry, b-but you were tresspassing our ter-territory, our ho-home, we-we don't like intruders!" the man said.

"That _wasn't_ the answer..." Toothless added more pressures to the man's chest, almost crushing his ribs, though, Hiccup didn't like the idea of torturing someone.

"_AHHHHHHH_- okay, okay! We're just loners! We're nobody! Banished! _OUTCASTS_!" The last word took the brunet a step back, but quickly he shook his head.

These men are outcasts, yes, but they were that for a completely different reason.

"Really? Why not just join the Outcast then?" He quickly slap his own thought for suggesting such an act, '_Hiccup, you idiot, are you trying to help the Outcast here?!_'

"We-we'd killed many of their kind before! They'll k-kill us on sight..."

"So you attack us _blindly_ without knowing your situation, without a second thought of your actions?! Without giving me the chance to explain?! _You're_ _no better than they are!_" Nodding towards the dragon, Toothless lifted his paw off the man, "Get your men and get out of my sight...we'll leave," he did as Hiccup said, scurrying away like a dog. Then, the boy thought of something and stopped him, "Wait...who do you think I am?" it sounded like an idiotic question, but the man understood his intention once he got a look between him and his dragon:

"Y-your the End-Bringer, aren't you?" The brunet shook his head.

"You know the two stories about _The Savior_ and _The Lone Rider_?" the man nodded. "I'm the _second_ one..." and with that, the Lone Rider hopped on his dragon's back, strapped on his harness, putting his left foot in gear, taking off and soaring above the sky, no longer be able to be seen by their attacker.

Thinking back to this day, Hiccup would realize it was the day that justified his act towards his weakness:

Having the sight of a Viking make him sick, enrage, but though he loathed them, he can handle them well; being _self-controlled_. The will to stay sane and stay true to himself.

But how will he handle towards Berk...?

:: ::

_"You're nothing, worthless, a piece of trash!"_

_"You disgust me!"_

_"You're a mistake!"_

_"The Gods dispiese you!"_

_"OUTCAST!"_

_"NAUSEAN!"_

_"DISSAPOINTMENT!"_

_"_**_USELESS!_**_"_

_Darkness, nightmare...Hel. That was what it felt like...again._

_"Oh look, it's Useless again, let's see what he's gonna mess up today."_

_Hiccup was nailed to the ground crying, surrounding him in circle by mirrors. Each one popped a body of the people who dispised him. They were everywhere..._

_"You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!" Gobber - who was on the left - gestured the bola, one of the easiest weapons to use._

_E__ven an eight year old can swing that._

_"I kn-know, I-I tried but-" the Lone Rider choked in every word. __Couldn't they had at least tell him what he did wrong, try to help him with his mistakes?!_

_"I got to thank ya for running away, Useless, now I'll be the heir. Who knew you could be that useful," Cousin Snotlout was on the corner left, smiling and laughing evilly, while Ruffnut and Tuffnut were doing the same from the corner front and back to the right._

_"Uhhh...what am I doing here?" said Fishlegs, in-between the twins.__ Hiccup had no idea what he was doing here as well, he didn't really hate the chubby guy, he was just disappointed that he had abandon him._

_"Ju-just shut up! All of you!"_

_The next person to speak up was Astrid - right in front of him - shocking him the most, "Why should we?! You'd caused enough trouble for us in our life! You deserve it - all of it! You know how long it took for us to clean up that mess in the arena __you'd__ cause?! You're insane!"_

_THAT'S IT!_

_"AHHHHHHHH!" Hiccup dashed forward, screaming, ground breaking at each step, throwing his fist at the face of the person who had broken his heart, and slammed it in the mirror - penetrated it and shattering it - unharm. The fallen glass echo it sounds through the endless void, __"That one...was a lie!" he corrected._

_ Hiccup was breathing hard, losing his mind, but it wasn't over. What had held the mirror now became an open door of horrifc memories - shattered memories - each flying and flowing over the brunet's head, each memory of avoidance from everyone, their bystandern action when he was bullied, the abandon they put him through, the lack of faith they had in him, his mother's death...and the lie. __Ohhhh the lie. The frame she and the others had place on him._

_He would NEVER forget that..._

_He was losing it. His mind was breaking at each scene he was witnessing, and all around him at the remaining of the party, they were all shouting:_

_ "You're not a Viking!"_

_"You'll never be one of us!"_

_"You're the wrong examples of one!"_

_Then, only one voice spoke this time... _

_"You're not a Viking...you're not my **son**!" _

_Hiccup spin at that last word. At the back, it was Stoick, the bastard of a father! How dare he say such a thing?! He was suppose to be his father, but after all these years he didn't really act like one. Fine, if he is not his son, then Stoick is not his father!__ The man can disown him, but he can also disown the man! _

_Yet, somehow, the line still wasn't crossed._

_No longer was he sad, but enraged, and with one sentence, he let out a ferocious shout, __"**I DON'T WANT IIITTTTTTTTTT!**" The dragon like roar shattered what was left of everything. Every figured disappeared, while pieces of glass turned to dust, and the remaining of their voices became nothing but a whisper to nothing at all. __His word had shut them up._

_Good._

_He felt to his kneel disarrayed, confused, and scared. The memories were still flooding around his head, but he felt the present of someone in front of him, clearing his head as much as possible, "Hiccup..." it was Toothless' voice, crooning and comforting his little human._

_"Toothless..." the boy responded, feeling like tears were about to fall out of his eyes, "I don't want it anymore."_

_"Hiccup, as long as I can remember about Vikings from when I was a little cub, being one of them is meant to have strength, courage, bravery, intellect and being fearless." The dragon move in his snout to lift the rider's chin, "The rest see it the wrong way...but not you. Hiccup, you have all of those trait - not in psychical, but by heart and mind - it is true that you are not a Viking, yes, but you are a __true__ Viking. You know how to be one the right way, and because of that, you're more than just a Viking; you're __human__. You have more humanity than all of us...__" And with that last word, dragons upon dragons started to formed behide Toothless, all of them agreeing with him. Although Hiccup had never met any of them before, he can tell by their expression that they would always have his back._

_He had never thought of it that way, and yet Toothless' words warm his heart, __"Thank you..."_

_"Do me two favor?" the Night Fury asked._

_"Yeah?"_

_"One: When you punched Astrid's mirror, please, don't lose it again."_

_The Lone Rider nodded._

_"And two: Wake up..."_

:: ::

"Ah!" Hiccup jolted up from his stone bed, sweating and petrifying. Seeing no sign of his friends, and without their body heat, he should have been cold by the winter air coming into the cave, but the intense nightmare had warmed him up.

Well, just 3/4 of it, the rest till the end were somewhat soothing, comforting, and calm.

"It was a crazy dream," that's all he could say. He got up in a sitting position and close his eyes...

At that moment, multiple visions of his memories were flashing in and out, out of control. It was scary, painful, at the sight of them. He breathed in and out to calm himself as he slowly take each vision one by one and place them back on the shelves of his mind. Slowly, each faded away from being the village, the citizens, Stoick, Gobber, the teens, and to the point it was just Astrid, to nothing but blank.

The Lone Rider let out a huge sigh of relief; he hadn't had another break down since two weeks ago, but at least this one had comfort at the end...it was quite particular than the rest.

Scanning the cave he was in, he remembered that he was at home now, back at the island. Strangely, he still couldn't think of a name for it. He has always been good at naming stuff (just look at _Toothless_!) so why not this place?!

Ah forget it, he'll think about it later, for now he just needed to recall what had been happening:

It had taken Toothless and him two days to make it back just as they planned it without another trouble like the first night. When they had finally arrived, they were both excruciatingly exhausted, had a few talks with the group...and that was that.

He knew something was left out, but to be sure of his decision, _he had one more thing to check up on_...

Sighing again, he put on his on his casual clothing, for there was no rush in anything today, and made his way out to the world. The rough patch woven of his old green tunic still fitted on him, after so much changes occured in his life. The fur vest was dirty and torn, but kept him warm and cozy. His hair had put some work on it's growth, feeling longer to the level of his shoulder.

He was _afraid_ of what he might look like now...

Outside, there were no green but white - snows covering the enitre island - and he can see the others clearing it out to create route for any important location.

There was Dozy, gulping up the snow into her mouth, though, due to her body temperature, it soon melted to nothing but boiling water.

For Ablaze, all he was doing was shoveling the snow to each side of the path with his wings, probably realized that his own strength of fire could send the _whole _forest _ablaze_.

Spark and Miasma were no where to be seen. Either they went for a quick flight to stretch their wings or they were out on their own share of hunting.

Nibbler was...goofing off, chasing multiple butterflies and target practice shooting them in mid-air. Each fire a success.

Toothless was up by the tree, hanging upside down like a bat, snoring. No one can blame him for his laziness, both he and his rider had been flying no-stop to get back here after all. Still, it was kind of odd, for Dozy was _working_, and Toothless was _sleeping_! Shouldn't it be the _opposite_?

Yawning, Hiccup take his time greeting his friends as he makes his way to find Dead-eye.

_This was big, he needed to be sure_...

Walking across the cleared route of the forest (courtesy by the Gronckle), he easily made it to the beach, where hanging by was Dead-Eye..._and her family_.

Her mate: _Striker_.

Her four hatchling: _Heimlich_, _Whip-Lash_, _Phoenix_...and_ Hicca_...

_Three_ boys, _one_ girl.

Hiccup chuckled, couldn't believed in his mind that Dead-Eye had insisted in naming the only girl, who had hatched last, after him in feminine form. After all, he did set her free from the monstrous tyranny, saved her from the Berkians, gave her a new life, and gave her a family. The payment of her dept was unpayable, which the Lone Rider had insist that her safety was all that matter, but at least naming one of her hatchling after him was a sign of gratitude, loyalty, and a honor among him.

Also a way of apologizing to him after Heimlich was the first to hatch, which almost caused him his _death_. It turns out that dragon eggs _explode_ when they hatch, probably because the formation of their fire. Hiccup was somewhere two feet when it happened.

_It was a good thing these thing doesn't hatch near civilization_...

In order to cause less damage and prevent dangers to others, it was learned that the egg must be place _underwater_ the moment before it explode, to keep the fiery blast compacted by its pressure.

This whole moment came to be not more than half of Þorri - the month of new beginning - when a rogue Deadly Nadder stumble upon the group's private home.

Well, not "stumble", but more of _crashing-down-on-Midgard_...

That was when they meant Striker; vulnerable, hungry, livid, obsess, confused, and scared, it was written all over the male's face. One thing for sure, all he remembered was his name and that he had woken badly injured in an event he had no recall off. It was three moon-cycles ago before he had came here.

Strange, the same effect that happened to _everyone _once they had escape their queen...

Was it her hypnotic spell that focus their mind so much on her task, that they soon forgot about their morality and conscious, to the point of their own memory? Why hadn't anyone told him about this before? Why did he have to find out about it himself from Toothless? Were they scared...?

Or like him, they were just trying to forget the past that was already forgotten?

Striker was difficult to persuade with with at first. With no memories of anything about himself, his only instinct active was to survive. Luckily, Hiccup's ability to commune with dragons had grown during the courses of winter. To talk with the others fitted as a perfect practice for the rider, and up to the point where not only could he communicate with them, but with the rest of the species a line with them, so to talk with a Deadly Nadder is the capability to talk with the rest of its kind as well.

However, the dragon could barely trust anyone, due to it's fright, but Dead-Eye was there, and seeing his own kind of makes him feel comfortable with its kinship. Overtime, he had gotten along with everybody..._especially Dead-Eye_.

The two had been bonding together the most, since it was mostly her who had been taken cared of him, to the point where they officially became partners, to the point in a matter of two weeks when they officially became parents.

Toothless, though, seems down by the news, and only to Hiccup's discovery, it had given the rider a whole lot of surprise with the realization of his emotion. In wisdom, the dragon quickly bounced over it, as he had come to realized himself that it was _her_ love story, never his.

_His_ was still out there.

He had never thought about finding himself a suited mate, but the event had made him think twice.

On the matter of subject, Hiccup look over the happy family as the parents began to teach each of their two weeks year old how to fly. It had began a while, and now, they were like a pro, just like their parents. The height they had growth were somewhere the line of Toothless and their length shorter than Dozy. All in all, they were in healthy shape.

"_Hiccup!_" shouted Hicca on her childish, girlish, adorable voice, as to her adorable face.

The rest notice the Lone Rider and went over to greet him, "Hey there guys! Fine morning, right?" said boy asked.

"_It sure is! I'm faster than __Heimlich_ now!" claimed Whip-Lash.

"_Am not!_"

"_Am too!_"

"_AM NOT!_"

"Hey, hey, come on guys, no fighting. You can try to compete with each other later, but no fighting...at least, _not yet_." He knew they were going to have to learn to defend themselves sooner or later, _what with all the conflict of the war_.

Which was why he needed to talk with everyone, starting with the two love birds.

"_Okaaaayy_," the two said simultaneously.

"Great, now, mind if I talk to your parents?"

"_Sure!_" They all cleared the path forward for their "uncle", and beyond him, the two dragons were waiting for what he has to say.

"Hey guys, you two look great this morning," complimentary on a Deadly Nadder's look is accustom for the admiration of their beauty, this he had once discovered. Not sure why though, it can sometimes be irritating.

"_Oh why thank you, Hiccup. You look find as well. Is there something you what to tell us?_" Hiccup take a look back at the hatchling. So young, so innocent, born in a war they didn't deserve, and somehow, he can tell they were going to be more involve if this keeps on going.

_This war has got to be stopped_...

Turning to face them, he let out, "Yeah..._we need to talk_."

* * *

**_AN: Before the next chapter, should I include anything that you guys have your attention on? Anything that I had missed that I should mention in the next chapter?_**

**_One more thing before I go, you want to know how long it took me to be satisfied with this chapter? SEVEN FREAKING DAYS! Usually it takes me about an hour or two once I'm done with a chapter, but not this time! This is a sign that says "I need to take a time out because I have been working way too hard". I just don't feel the spark anymore, there's not enough oil to fuel it. My muse had been on the low, so I'm going to have to take some time off before I get to the next chapter. Beside, I've been avoiding "Dragons: Warriors of Berk (Book 1)" too long, I can hear it screaming my name for attention. *Sigh* until next guys._**

**_Good reading and good luck..._**


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